"One other thing, Liane."
"Yes?"
"I'll be watching everything you do. Don't try and slip some poison or sleeping potion into the food. You'd only be the one to eat it, if you did." With an insulted flounce, Liane turned back to the hearth and angrily stoked the fire.
That nocte, she refused his offer to bathe with him and endured the indignity of being tied to the nearest tree while Karic washed in the forest pool. Her anger quickly cooled as she watched him in the water. It was hard to stay angry at a man who stirred her like Karic did.
She knew he was aware of her gaze upon him, but strangely the realization didn't embarrass her. Distance from him seemed to make all the differencedistance and the fact he'd soon be leaving, never to return. She wanted to store up memories of him for those long, lonely times in her life. He was the only man she'd ever wanted. These stolen moments were all she could ever let herself have.
He moved with a lithe grace, his long, steel-tempered thighs slicing the water like finely honed blades. His arms and chest, knotted with muscle, stretched then bunched with rippling precision as he scrubbed his body with the cleansing sand Liane had provided. Unselfconsciously, Karic turned then bent over to capture the floating container of sand, presenting Liane a tantalizing view of taut buttocks merging into long, smooth flanks. She felt her heart quicken, her mouth go dry.
The sudden surge of wanting must have been palpable. Karic turned at that moment, and his gaze shot straight to hers. His compelling eyes riveted her, eyes that changed like quicksilver from indifference to wariness to a smoldering intensity. Somewhere between hope and dread Liane watched and saw the emotion purposely flicker out. She exhaled a shuddering breath. It was better this way. His manner was cold when he stepped from the pool, his magnificent form glistening with moisture. Neither spoke as Karic dressed, neither then nor on the walk back to the hut. There was nothing worth saying about things better left unsaid.
Karic roasted a long-eared lepus over the fire while Liane sliced bread and laid out some cheese. For dessert, there was fresh cerasa fruit. It was simple fare, but Karic ate with relish. Liane didn't have much appetite and toyed with her food.
"We'll sleep together this nocte."
What little appetite Liane had immediately fled. She raised startled eyes. "Whwhat did you say?"
He calmly stared back at her, pausing to swallow a bite of bread before answering. "We'll sleep together. I don't plan on losing track of you. Your bed is rather small, though. We'll make a pallet on the floor."
Liane gathered her plate and eating utensils and rose from the table. "I'm not sleeping with you, this nocte or any other!" she sputtered from over her retreating shoulder.
"And how do you suggest I keep an eye on you then? Tie you up?"
She wheeled around, the plate still in her hand. "This is ridiculous. I'm not going anywhere. I put up with being tied for your bath, but I am not going to sleep with you."
Karic rose and walked over to her. "And I say you will."
He was most intimidating, staring down at her from his imposing height, but an unwed Sententian female did not sleep with a male. It just wasn't done, and she certainly wasn't fool enough to lay beside a man as unsettling as he. If he touched her . . . But if she refused? The look in his eyes boded trouble. Perhaps they could agree on a compromise.
"What would this sleeping together entail?" Liane cooly returned his stare, though her heart was hammering in her breast.
A quizzical expression crossed his face, then he laughed. This time it was a deep, rich sound. It skittered pleasantly across Liane's increasingly frazzled nerves, and she tentatively smiled.
"Sleep, sweet femina, and nothing more."
As he ran a finger along the line of her jaw, Liane thought she heard a note of regret in his voice.
"If I don't trust you enough to let you out of my sight, I certainly don't trust you enough to surrender my mind and body to you in the act of mating. That, I think, would leave me just a little too vulnerable."
"Oh."
"You sound disappointed."
She vehemently shook her head. "No, not at all. Those terms are quite acceptable."
He smiled wryly. "Are they now? Then let's get on with it. I'm exhausted and need a good nocte's rest. I plan to leave on the morrow."
"The morrow?" Liane felt a heavy weight settle in her chest. "You're not strong enough for a long journey yet. You need to rest at least another sol or two."
"You told me I'd know when I was ready, and you forget that you're basing your predictions on a Bellatorian male. We Cat Men are a hardier species. I'll be fine by the morrow."
She turned to hide the play of emotions that must be present in her eyes. With great effort Liane stilled her trembling hand and set the plate on the cup-board. It is better this way, she told herself. "As you wish," she murmured. "I'll rise early and prepare food for your journey."
You'll be preparing food enough for both of us, Karic silently replied. Though you don't know it yet, you're coming with me.
He almost dreaded the coming sol. His words to Liane on his physical condition had been partly bravado. He wasn't as strong as he knew he should be, but time was the enemy now. He couldn't squander even an extra secundae for himself. If Liane had betrayed his lair to Necator, there wasn't a moment to spare. He must reach his people before the Bellatorians did.
Taking her with him would be difficult. He knew she'd fight him all the way, sapping what precious little strength he had. But what other choice had he? Killing her had never been an option.
And he still desired her, though as the half-blooded heir to the Cat Throne he could never life mate with her. He must choose a full-blooded Cat Woman to prevent further dilution of their species. The permitted temporary mating with her for several cycles would satisfy his own needs, then he'd pass her on to the others. He had planned to take her back with him for that purpose anyway, yet why did he suddenly feel such guilt over the decision?
She'd saved his life; she'd healed him no matter what her motives. Those facts were indisputable. He owed her. And abduction by another race, forced to mate with a species unlike her own, might well be an unspeakable horror for her.
Before, it wouldn't have mattered to him. The welfare of his people came first. But now, she also mattered. It made no sense, Karic raged at himself. He was mad to care for a female who probably had betrayed him, but he did, curse her cold little Bellatorian heart! He'd been lost from the first moment he'd seen her. For that reason and that reason alone, he'd try to ease her way as best he could. It changed nothing, but it was all he could do.
They made a pallet before the hearth. Though needless in the warm climate, in deference to Liane's modesty Karic left his breeches on. Until he'd the time to fashion a new loincloth from animal skins, the Bellatorian clothing would have to do. He settled onto the pallet and looked expectantly up at Liane.
She stood across the small hut beside the chest.
"Are you coming to bed, Liane? I'm tired and can't sleep until you're beside me."
"I need to change into my sleeping shift."
"Then go ahead and be done with it."
"Will you turn away while I do so?"
Karic propped himself up on an elbow. "No. Nakedness is nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, I've already seen you unclothed, bathing at the pool."
Liane colored fiercely. "So it wasn't just your imagination when we joined in the mind seek."
"No."
"I'd still like you to turn your head."
"And I said no."
She shifted uneasily, aware she was losing this battle. "You're not being fair."
"Who said I had to be?"
"A man of honor . . ."
With an exasperated sigh Karic rolled over on his back, pillowing his head in his hands. "Just be done with it, will you, Liane? I won't look." It was more than she'd dared hope. Liane quickly shed her gown and slipped on a brief sleeping shift. It barely came to her knees, and the thin fabric was worn nearly transparent with use. She'd never noticed that before. It had always been so comfortable and cool. That was all that had mattered in the privacy of her hut, but now it was only the next step from nakedness itself.
She hesitated, half-tempted to put back on her gown and be done with it, when Karic turned to look at her. His annoyance at her dragging out this affair burned in his eyes, but one glance at her sleeping shift quickly extinguished that. His gaze boldly raked over her, missing nothing from the rosy hue of nipple thrusting through the sheer fabric to the shadow at the junction of her thighs.
A dark flush suffused his striking features, and a fire, fiercely burning and bright, sprang to life in his eyes. Liane swallowed hard and walked over to the pallet. Her gaze never left his as she lowered herself down and pulled up the blanket.
"II am sorry to cause you trouble," she began, not knowing what else to say in the heated intensity of the moment. "I never meant"
"Don't say another word, Liane," Karic abruptly growled. "Go to sleep. Now. Before it's too late!"
He rolled over onto his side, his back toward her, leaving her trembling in the dying firelight.
True to her word Liane was up early, before the first rays of sol had even penetrated the forest's depths. Well aware that Karic's gaze was upon her from the first movement she made, she quickly slipped her gown over her sleeping shift and readied the fire for some baking. He rose, pulling on his tunic and tan-colored knee-high boots. Liane's eyes carefully avoided his as she gathered the ingredients for making bread.
"Do you have any boots and breeches?"
The strangeness of Karic's question stopped Liane in the process of measuring out the flour. She forced herself to meet his gaze, her brow crinkling in puzzlement.
"Yes, but what has that to do"
He strode over to her. "You'll need them for the journey. You're coming with me."
For the longest moment Liane just stared at him, as the reality of his words penetrated her mind. Then, with a quick movement, she flung the cup of flour into Karic's face.
"No!" she screamed and ran for the door.
The flour spewed into his eyes, blinding him. He rubbed it out as fast as he could, but Liane was already gone.
Karic shot out the door after her, confident she'd not elude him for long. He was a swift runner, one of the quickest of his people, and it was an easy thing to follow her spoor. No one smelled quite like Liane with her alluring scent of wild violets. He soon saw her ahead in the trees, her long, dark hair streaming behind her in an ebony trail.
Liane never heard his approach, and so the moment of impact was doubly terrifying. She screamed when he slammed into her, turning in his arms to frantically claw at him as they fell. Karic twisted to take the brunt of their fall as they landed with a thud.
It had rained again that nocte, particularly hard, and the ground beneath the leaves was sodden. Mud oozed up to drench their backs, and the resulting struggle, as Liane fought to free herself, only added to their grime. They were quickly coated with leaves and mud.
''Let me go!" Liane cried, futilely trying to pry Karic's fingers from her arm. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"You have no choice," he snapped, just barely dodging a wildly flailing knee. "Stop this ridiculous struggle. You know I'll win in the end."
"You'll never win!" she screeched back at him, attempting to stuff a wad of leaves in his face. "I'll never give up, not while there's breath left in my body."
Karic lost his rapidly waning patience. He had neither the time nor energy for a protracted battle. He suddenly flipped Liane over onto her stomach. Tearing a large swath off her gown, he used it to tie her hands behind her back.
At the sound of the fabric ripping, Liane gasped in outrage. "How
dare
you? What are you doing?"
He rolled her over. "Subduing you in the gentlest way I know how."
Liane glanced down at her ruined gown. The back, she knew, was virtually gone, and as soon as she stood, the front would follow. If not for her sleeping shift . . .
She shot him a murderous look, and her temper flared. "You call this gentle? Why, you self-serving insensitive"
"Careful, Liane. Don't say something you might later regret." Karic pulled her to her feet.
Her gown slithered to the ground.
"Regret?" She couldn't help herself. She'd never been so furious, so humiliated in her whole life.
She said the first thing that entered her mind. "The only thing I regret is that I didn't turn you in when I had you."
Karic scowled. The set of his lips tightened, and a little muscle ticked along his jaw. He roughly swung her up into his arms and strode off in the direction they'd come.
"You'll regret more than that if you don't stop while you're ahead," he declared through tightly clenched teeth.
Liane squirmed in his arms. "Where are you taking me? What are you going to do?"
There was an undercurrent of panic rising in her voice which touched Karic, his anger quickly dissipating. He couldn't blame her for running away and fighting. He'd have done the same. There was no reason for him to treat her harshly because of it. The tension eased from his body.