Bayne pierces me with a knowing stare and doesn’t miss the telltale signs of my discomfort. “Are you okay, Willa?” He stands, then seems torn between approaching to give me comfort and wiping the blood and guts off the arrows.
“You don’t need to come near me with those,” I tell him, wondering where the other Willa is. The Willa who learned how to field dress a deer before her tenth birthday.
He lets them fall from his hand and stalks toward me. “You’re not okay,” he announces. “You’re shaking.”
I feel all of five years old, wanting to deny the obvious and tell him I’m not shaking because as sure as I’m standing here, if I admit it he’s going to urge me to go back to the ship. So I just stand here paralyzed, my gaze flicking between my handsome huntsman and the huge dead arthropod whose little hairy mouthparts are still quivering.
He folds me in his arms and turns me so his back is against the tree. This accomplishes three things. He can watch over my shoulder to protect me, I’m facing away from the disgusting scene of carnage, and his warmth and compassion can seep into me.
“It’s okay, my Willa,” he croons, his capable hands sifting through my hair. “I want you to go back to the ship. It’s not safe for you here.”
I knew that was coming. Truth be told, my feelings would have been hurt if he hadn’t offered. I’ll be honest with myself, I volunteered—no I didn’t exactly volunteer, I demanded—to come more because I didn’t want to be separated from my huntsman and less to protect and soothe him.
I stroke up and down along either side of the quiver still on his back. He feels good, solid, reassuring under my fingertips.
“I want to stay with you.” I did an adequate job of sounding assertive rather than whiney.
“We’ve fought this battle before, so I won’t argue. I’ll just tell you one more time that I’d feel much better with you back on the Fool’s Errand. Because I . . .” He interrupts his own sentence to kiss me. Not a hard, passionate kiss like before we were interrupted, but a soft, heartfelt one.
Was he about to tell me he loves me? By the look in those gorgeous, golden swirling eyes, I think maybe he was.
His tongue has breached my mouth and is stroking mine in long licks, reminding me there’s a dog inside him. A strong warrior capable of protecting me.
It’s dimmer in the forest than it had been, at least one of Fairea’s three suns must be about to set.
Bayne must have noticed it, too, because he says, “We should get back to camp before it gets dark.”
As we walk, I keep my hand on my bow, ready to go into hunting mode in case one of those ugly scuttling things darts out of the growing shadows. I wasn’t much help when we were being attacked; I vow not to play the helpless female in the future.
We arrive back at the clear orb made out of what on Earth would be thick see-through plastic. I have no idea what material it is out in space, but it’s durable and will allow us to see the stars and wake with the sun.
Perhaps I didn’t think it through fully, because it will also allow every predator within a mile to see us, and the idea of making love in a see-through enclosure, especially so soon after the tarantu-scorp attack is not appealing.
“Are you sure this tent was a good choice?” I ask, picturing all the little woodland creatures grabbing seats outside our tent, popping some popcorn, and watching us get it on. I decide right here, right now, that will not be happening tonight.
“No. You were busy asking the shopkeeper about the ingredients in the food packets when Shadow and I were making the purchase. It was the only thing available. We’re out in the open this way. I don’t like it at all.”
“At least we’re in agreement on that.”
We zip ourselves inside the sphere, I toss a thick comforter on top of the cushy bed. I wonder if maybe I was wrong about the no-nookie decision. All the little creatures could see would be the covers wiggling.
We have two comfy camping chairs, and the food packets heat themselves when you shake them. I have no idea what larg with vertiga and rendivar is, and couldn’t really get a feel for it from the picture on the package, but that’s what I pick to eat tonight. Bayne prefers meat—any type of meat. So he’s having a large serving of hensis.
We haven’t had a chance to talk a lot these past few days; we were too busy getting ready for this mission. Between sewing our own leather clothes, making shoes, and trying to perfect my skills with a bow and arrow, there wasn’t a lot of time for casual conversation.
“Tell me about your home planet,” I say around a bite of larg. The package should have been labeled, ‘Tastes Like Ass’.
The muscles on his face tighten as he looks down for a moment. Shit. Bad question. But then he gives me full eye contact as if he decided to focus on everything about his life before the invaders came.
“It was a simple place. There weren't any machines. It was a village with small houses made of saplings that were positioned in circular rows around one longhouse in the middle. That was where I recall the best times of my life.” A small smile lifts the corners of his mouth and his gaze darts to mine. It’s so good to see him have warm memories.
Chapter Nine
