Lea said.
“Consider it done,” the man said, and eased past Riley to leave the room.
“He’s going to need—”
“We’ll give him what he needs,” Riley broke in, and when Lea looked at him, he
smiled. “All he needs.”
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
“It’s the least we can do, ma’am,” the gambler responded.
For the next half-hour, Lea and Riley saw to the Reaper’s needs, cleaning the
crusted black blood from his sides and back and undressing him so he could rest
comfortably beneath the crisp sheets.
Lea had asked for a chair to place beside the bed and Riley provided it for her,
introducing himself at last as he set the chair down.
“You call me when he wakes up,” the gambler told her then left her alone with
Bevyn.
“Hey, look here,” the man whose wife had fainted called out as Riley came back to
the dining car. “My old lady wants to know if both them women are with the Reaper.”
He grinned nastily. “Got himself a little harem going there?”
Everyone seemed to be listening to the conversation, appeared keenly interested in
the details, and Riley’s voice lowered.
118
Her Reaper’s Arms
“Reapers have only one mate,” Riley replied with a hard stare. “His lordship is with
the pretty young one.
“Well, the way that there warrior woman was putting her hands all over him, we
couldn’t help but wonder if something wasn’t going on there,” the man said with a
wink.
“Could be she’s his partner,” the man’s wife spoke up.
“Reapers don’t have partners,” Riley decreed, “but I reckon she could be working
with him.”
“What I am to him is none of your business.”
Gasps and averted eyes accompanied Riley’s flinch as he turned to see the tall
woman glaring at him. He put a finger to his temple.
“No, ma’am, it surely ain’t,” he agreed, and righted a chair to sit down.
The Reaper’s body temperature seemed higher than normal to Lea but she
supposed that was because of the gunshots. He was sweating lightly and she kept
rinsing out a cloth, wiping his face and across his shoulders, down his arms—being
very careful of his chest although not one sign of a bullet wound could be seen—as she
tried to cool him. She smoothed his hair back and hummed quietly to him as she held
his hand and stroked his long fingers. From time to time he would stir as though trying
to wake but would lie still again, his chest moving gently up and down, his lips parted.
Lea didn’t need to turn around to know who had come to stand at the compartment
door. “He is still sleeping,” she said.
“I don’t like that,” Penthe declared as she came on into the compartment.
“Thank you for killing the bastard who did this to him,” Lea said. “I only wish I
could have had the son of a bitch to myself for a few days.”
“And done what exactly?” Penthe said with a snort.
“I’d have made him rue the day he ever hurt Bevyn Coure,” Lea said, and met the
Amazeen’s eyes directly. “If I had your ancestor here, I would tear her to shreds for
what she did to him.”
Penthe arched a thick brown brow. “I believe you mean that, wench.”
“You can take it to the bank, Amazeen. I’m not what you think I am,” Lea said.
“And when it comes to this man, I can be a cold-hearted bitch.”
The Blackwind leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her impressive
bosom. “And here I thought Terran women were sissies.”
“Aye, well, the female of my species is meaner and deadlier than the male when it
comes to protecting our loved ones,” Lea remarked. “Ask any Native Terran
warrioress.”
“He’s a man well worth protecting,” Penthe said.
“And he is mine.”
119
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Penthe inclined her head. “Aye, wench, I know that.” She stared hard at Lea. “I
might not like it, might wish it were otherwise, but I will respect it.”
“Then we understand one another,” Lea said, not giving an inch.
“It would seem so,” Penthe said. She straightened up. “Be sure to call me when he
wakes so I may help feed him. He will need it.”
“I told Riley I’d call him and I will,” Lea said, and she turned her head away.
“You would not allow me to feed him from my veins?” Penthe asked quietly.
“Not in a million fucking years,” Lea stated.
“It would be an honor for me,” Penthe said.
“Not going to happen.”
“I protected his back today. I—”
“And you have my thanks,” Lea said, and looked around, her face hard. “You have
his thanks.”
The Blackwind narrowed her eyes. “You are a liability to him,” she said. “Had you
not been there today, he would never have given his gun to the thief.” She went to the
door then turned to give Lea one last hateful look. “You think on that, bitch.”
When the Amazeen left, Lea continued to sit beside Bevyn, gently stroking his
hand. She bathed his face and arms and chest again, growing more concerned at the
heat radiating from his body. He stirred now and again, his head thrashing slowly on
the pillow as though he were striving to wake from whatever hellish place in which he
dwelt. He mumbled but as day moved into night, he had still not awakened.
Riley stopped by the compartment not long after the sun had set. He rapped gently
on the open door for Lea had her head down on the edge of the mattress. When she
lifted her head and looked around at him, he smiled.
“How ’bout letting me watch him for a while?” the gambler asked. “You need to
take a rest and eat something. They’ve got fried chicken in the dining car.”
Lea shook her head. “I want to be here when he wakes up.”
“Okay,” Riley said. “Can I bring you a tray then?”
Her stomach growled at the suggestion. “That would be nice, Riley. Thank you.”
“I’ll be right back then.”
Lea sighed and looked back around, stunned to see Bevyn’s eyes open and looking
into hers.
“Another conquest, milady?” he asked.
She got out of the chair and sat down gingerly on the mattress beside him. “How do
you feel?” she asked, stroking his hair back from his forehead.
“Like I got
