Lovers of the Galaxy, Book Two: Bounty Hunters of the Heart (10 page)

“How would you know what love is?” he asked.
Everything inside him shook from stress. Stress of his partner’s
selfishness and stubbornness. Stress from their long journey to
Earth. And stress from their current task. He didn’t know how much
more he could take.

“I know love is not like this.”

The disdain in his voice pushed Miln ever closer to
the edge of snapping. “You are an adult, but you do not have the
mental maturity of one.” He glared at his partner. “Love comes in
many forms, and it’s not always easy. Take Venus and the brothers
as an example. Despite the fact Venus feels her mates are too bossy
and overprotective, she realizes that it’s part of who they are and
they love her and want her to be happy and safe. The brothers know
she is fiercely independent, but they try to respect her will and
feelings because they know it is one of the many big things that
make her so special.”

“So?”

He wrestled with his temper, but as quickly as it
surfaced it vanished. Oshki wasn’t happy and nothing Miln could
ever do would change that fact. If his mate couldn’t see the point
in what he just said, his narrow-mindedness and self-centered ways
would tear them apart—and probably already had.

“Never mind.” Pain laced his heart and a lump formed
in his throat. “I see Melinda riding this way. Hopefully she has a
clue to Randle’s whereabouts.”

A few yards before reaching them, she called out, “No
one in town knew anything about Randle and Charlotte, but one
rancher I bumped into mentioned he’d seen a couple riding a horse
deeper into the foothills.

“Let’s go,” Miln stated. “The longer we wait the more
distance Randle puts between us.”

***

His ass couldn’t take much more of the hard,
unyielding saddle. Miln studied Melinda’s straight spine. How could
the female act as if horseback riding was as easy as breathing when
his buttocks, thighs and back muscles were killing him? For the
thousandth time he wished for his treasured battle beast he’d left
behind on Azutu.

Following him, Oshki rode in silence, but every now
and then he’d hear a groan or an irritable sigh.

Earlier, Melinda had found signs of a horse’s
hoofprints. She’d shown them how to track such animals and what to
look for. He had caught on quickly. Many aspects of tracking were
different than theirs, but many were the same, too.

“Hold up,” she called and held her fist in the air.
“I think I’ve found another clue.”

“Good,” Oshki muttered. “I could use a break from
this uncomfortable riding seat.”

Grinning, Miln dismounted and approached Melinda.

“Look there and there.” She pointed. “The horse left
prints along the edge of that spring and there are several willow
branches broken on the other side.”

“Come here and learn this,” he called to Oshki, who
stood drinking from a flat, leather-clad container.

His companion shook his head and twisted the cap back
on the strange bottle. “I am not interested.”

“You are a security officer and bounty hunter. It
will benefit you to learn how to track in various environments and
learn the animals, flora, and fauna.”

“I do not think I want this duty anymore,” he stated
without looking at Miln. He made a show of looping the container’s
strap over the saddle’s strange head. “My life is mine to do with
as I wish and I am tired of pleasing others.”

Grinding his teeth together, he sucked in a steadying
breath, but the sound of his grating molars drew Melinda’s
attention. Somehow she sensed the turmoil.

“Is he your younger brother or a son?” she asked.

Her questioned shocked him. Prickles swept over his
skin. The female didn’t realize that he was his partner.

“No, he is neither.”

“He sounds like a younger sibling or maybe an eldest
son who is mad at you. I just assumed you were family.”

“He is angry with me, yes, but he’s my….”

His reluctance to finish the sentence urged Melinda
to approach him. She craned her neck to look up at him, the rising
sun illuminating her from behind. Her quizzical brown eyes studied
him in a serious manner that almost made him smile.

“Is he a nephew, then? I know several farmers and
ranchers who’re raising kin. Many succumbed to a strange fever that
swept the plains.”

“No, we are not related. We were warriors on our
world. Now I am the head of security for the new Earth Base of the
future, and he is a one of the guards who serves under me.”

She continued studying him. Her gaze wandered over
his face and down to his chest. Glancing over at Oshki, she watched
him for a moment.

Somewhere up the slope, birds squabbled, the sound
loud and startling.

“Damn crows,” she mumbled. “Seems like they always
make a racket when you need to be quiet….” Her gaze met Miln’s
again. This time her eyes widened and sudden comprehension filled
them. “Oh.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“You two are…together?”

He nodded. “But I fear he has decided otherwise.”

“I see.”

“Is that knowledge going to affect our task of
finding Randle and your sister?”

“Uh, no. What you are is none of my business.” She
whirled, her skirts whipping around her odd lace-up boots. “Let’s
get going before the heat of the day becomes unbearable.”

He mounted his horse. Once both Melinda and Oshki
were in their saddles, they resumed their trek into the foothills.
The female’s surprise that they were intimate didn’t bother him;
there were many races throughout the galaxies that didn’t believe
in same-sex relationships, so he was used to the reactions.
However, Melinda’s assumption that they were family members left
him with an unsettling sensation in his gut. The truth reared its
vicious head, but he shoved it aside to concentrate on the matter
at hand.

They crested a hill, and Oshki rode up to keep pace
with him on the right and Melinda on the left. Miln sneaked glances
at his partner. His long hair waved in the wind, his silver eyes
trained straight ahead. Gulping, he willed his unease to go away.
Had he fallen in lust and mistaken it for love? Was it possible his
mate suffered the same, which was why he seemed to be giving up on
their relationship?

As the day wore on, questions and misgivings whirled
and gyrated in his mind.

Toward early evening, Melinda halted at the base of a
mountain. She pointed up a faint wagon trail.

“There’s a village about a mile up that road,” she
said. “The tracks we’ve been following go there. I think we should
wait until nightfall before we go any farther.”

“Agreed.” He dismounted and led his steed to a bush
where he tied the ends of the reins. “Randle will do something rash
if we surprise him while it’s still daylight. Under darkness we can
take him off guard.”

Climbing down from the saddle, Oshki questioned, “Why
would he go up there?”

“My guess is supplies.” Tethering her horse next to
Miln’s, Melinda looked over her shoulder. “I hope he hasn’t hurt my
sister. I haven’t seen any signs of struggle anywhere, so he must
still have her—if we’re even following the right tracks.”

“I’m sure it’s them.”

She glanced at him and then removed her bonnet. “How
are you so sure?”

“There’s nothing else out here. It has to be Randle
and your sister.”

She nodded once. “Well, I hope he behaves himself up
there.”

Oshki joined them and stood rubbing his ass.
“Why?”

“The village is nothing more than an orphanage, a
church, and a building where the orphans make baskets, jewelry, and
clothing to peddle in the towns. It’s how they fund the home.”

The Sky Streamer path location of the stolen ship
leaped into Miln’s head. This had to be the same place their
computer detected in Randle’s arrival zone.

“How can such a vast area with few people produce so
many orphans?” his partner asked.

“Fevers, cholera, and other illnesses claim families,
leaving children behind,” she answered sadly. “Often settlers
crossing the plains lose so many kin they’re forced to leave
children at the orphanage. It’s either that or watch them die of
something that has killed everyone else. They don’t want to leave
sons and daughters in the wilderness or take a chance their
children will run into hostile Indians still in the area.”

Oshki met his gaze. A strange light shone in his
partner’s eyes. Fear stabbed Miln’s heart. He knew that look. His
lover had just made up his mind about something very important.

Miln awoke and stretched. Hidden in an expansive
cluster of buttonbushes overhung by a walnut tree, they’d slept
undisturbed until full darkness descended. Other than sore
buttocks, he felt well.

“Are you awake?” Melinda spoke to his left.

“Yes. It is time for us to go into the village. You
stay here,” he ordered.

He couldn’t see Melinda’s face in the darkness, but
he heard her disgruntled sigh.

“If something happens to you, then we are left
dealing with your distraught sister,” he explained. “Besides, I
have another plan I’ve been thinking about, too.”

“What is it?” she questioned.

“We need healthy people in the future,” he answered.
“We’re trying to repopulate the planet, and since no one in this
time wants the orphans—”

“Ah, I see what you’re getting at.”

“Good,” said Miln. “Now promise us you will stay here
and not interfere.”

“Oh…all right.”

“Let us go, Oshki,” he ordered.

Silence.

“Oshki?” Dread settled in his gut. Quickly, he opened
his satchel and pulled out the scanner. Using its light to guide
him in the darkness, he saw only Melinda and the grass they’d
mashed by sleeping on it. “Schizma!” He shut his eyes and wrestled
with his temper. “By the Twelve Galaxies, I should just ship his
ass back to Azutu and let the authorities deal with him!”

Eyes nearly popping out of her head, Melinda asked,
“What’s wrong?” She glanced around. “Oh, no. You don’t think he
went up to the village, do you?”

“No, he has left for good.” Standing, he threw the
satchel strap over one shoulder.

“Left? Do you mean he returned to your time?”

“Possibly, but I doubt it. I figure Oshki is off in a
different era having one of his tantrums.”

“So….” In the blue backwash of the scanner, she
stared at him quizzically. “Does that mean he’s abandoned you?”

“It would appear that way.” So much for his promise
that he’d be patient with him. He sighed and tamped down the hurt
careening through him. “He probably wants to see if I will chase
after him.”

“What about my sister?”

“I will not leave her at the mercy of Randle or
anyone else. I agreed to help you, and by doing so, I can finish my
assignment, too.”

“But if your partner has your ship, how will you get
home?”

“I must find the one Randle stole when he escaped to
this time.”

“That might not be easy.”

“Trust me,” he replied, “I am well aware of that
fact.”

She regarded him for a long moment. The sympathy in
her eyes was almost more than he could bear.

Finally, she said, “What Oshki has done to you by
leaving you stranded in my time is just…cruel.”

He said nothing, the pain was too great, but the idea
he’d let a handsome face and beautiful body fool him into thinking
he was in love shamed him. Maybe Oshki was right. It did seem as if
he was always making sacrifices for others, but he couldn’t help
it. He’d been raised to watch over others, and once he was old
enough to work in the Azutuan Services, he’d been trained to do the
same. It was who he was. The life of a warrior and head of security
was full of sacrifices.

“So may I go with you now?” she asked, abruptly
changing the subject.

“Yes.”

With his mind a jumble of confusion, Miln led the way
up the wagon trail, picking their way carefully over the shallow
ruts and the loose rocks. Behind him, Melinda’s quiet footsteps
followed. A strange sound ripped through the treetops startling
him. He whirled with his Slicer poised to shoot, his attention now
fully on his mission.

“Take it easy,” she soothed. “It’s just a screech
owl. Don’t you have owls in your time?”

“I do not know. I have not had the chance to
investigate much of future Earth.”

He relaxed slightly and continued up the trail. Soon,
feeble lights twinkled on a steppe. A cluster of small buildings
with a large three-story structure on the far left end of the
settlement looked more like a ghost town than an inhabited village.
The faint whinny of a horse drifted down the slope to them,
followed by two clipped barks from a dog.

He said nothing as he approached the settlement.
Thankfully, the female had enough sense to remain quiet, too. Just
outside of the community, he studied the trail to determine whether
it was safer to proceed by the road or to sneak up on the biggest
building by way of the sparse trees surrounding the area. Having no
idea where Randle might be, Miln decided to skirt the village and
avoid the road, which lead straight into the center of the tiny
town.

“Stay right behind me,” he whispered. “That way you
are not stepping on anything that will make suspicious noises.”

Melinda nodded in the moonlight, her eyes round with
trepidation.

Thankfully, many tall trees with long, bushy needles
provided a thick bed to walk across that muffled their footsteps.
He paused a few yards behind the largest structure. The only lights
came from two rooms on the ground floor. He motioned for Melinda to
sit still and then crept toward the building in a crouched stance.
Reaching one of the windows where illumination stemmed, he quickly
peeped inside.

Randle sat by a hearth playing cards with an older
woman, who appeared anxious, and two young men Miln guessed to be
around twenty Earth years old. He spotted Charlotte and several
children, varying in age, huddled in the far corner. At first it
looked innocent enough, but as his attention settled on three
youngsters writhing on the floor, he realized what Randle had done
and the danger involved.