Chain Read online

  "So, she wouldn't mind an apprentice or two?"

  A small nod from S'sran's head followed by her blinking four of her eyes and Steel responded, "She won't mind. But they have to speak l'nal. That is her only criteria. It becomes frustrating for her when no one is listening to her and then the biting starts."

  In a graceful move, Wyanic stood in front of the giant spider and bowed. "Thank you, lady. Sharing knowledge is one of the greatest gifts one can give."

  S'sran made a l'nal chuckle. He is very good. You will have your hands full with this one.

  "I know." She hefted her tools to her shoulder and patted S'sran in farewell. "I will be back to check on the loom tomorrow. Make notes of any additional changes you want."

  Wyanic said his goodbyes to the spider and followed Steel out the door.

  They walked in silence back toward the village.

  Steel cleared her throat when they neared the carpentry workshop. "Have you eaten lunch?"

  "No. I lost track of time. Would you show me where I can get something?"

  She smiled. "Sure. Just let me drop my tools in the workshop and we can head to the butchers."

  Steel expected to see the dozen workers fashioning home furnishings when she entered the carpentry shop. The place was empty. Her curiosity was up, but she put her thoughts aside as she grabbed her knives and utensils.

  "Let's go. I have a place I like to go to get some silence. Does that sound like it interests you?"

  "If you and a meal will be there, I will follow wherever you lead."

  She tried to hide her pleased blush, but he pressed a kiss to her heated cheek and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  Only one male was on duty at the butcher shop and Steel was getting suspicious. "Vin, where is Aton?"

  "He is out doing something else today. He needed a day off." Vin gave Wyanic a meaningful look and a suspicion began to grow in Steel's mind.

  "Fine. Do you have a weasel?"

  "Of course. Here you are." He handed her a leather-wrapped parcel. "I included some of S'sran's cheese. She finally got the hang of the coagulation of the curds."

  "I look forward to trying it." She smiled weakly. The first few attempts were still burning in her memory and the part of her stomach that felt permanently scorched.

  Steel led the way into the forest, moving confidently through the woods. Her path was well known by the villagers. They had been known to haul her back in emergencies, but this one spot was kept for her use alone.

  The waterfall was only one foot tall, but the pool had a soothing ripple on the surface that calmed her turbulent thoughts the moment she stepped into the clearing.

  "Why isn't everyone here? This is beautiful." Wyanic found her pile of firewood and started a small blaze in the ashy hollow of stone.

  "I asked for it and they agreed that I needed a place to be silent occasionally." She took a branch and put the weasel on the spit, arranging it over the hollow in the fire pit. The light rubbing of herbs on the flesh made her smile. Each day the villagers put more into their arts.

  "I am honoured that you asked me here."

  "I needed to ask you some questions. This seemed like the only place we would not be interrupted." She rinsed her hands in the pond and sat back against one of the nearby trees.

  "What do you want to know?"

  "What do you expect from me? What do you want from me? How will we be able to live with the distance between our homes? What about when Junior is out in the world, how will that work?"

  "Steel, you are my true mate. An Oefric only has one per lifetime. With the blessings of my people, I will be moving here as soon as we have a stable exchange between our communities. My people have more advanced tools, but the skill levels here are developing at an astronomical pace." He sat next to her and lifted her hand to his lips. "I won't be far from you, ever again."

  Shivers started to move from the warm press of his lips, up her arm and across her breasts, tightening her nipples to hard points from that simple caress. Not one touch in the last six months had stirred a hormone and here, with one kiss, her body was spinning into a riot.

  Back on Earth, the idea of only one person able to stir you after you had met them was ridiculous, but here, it seemed all too true. "What is entailed in true mating?"

  "Nothing except a feeling of incompletion when you are away from your match. That and a binding genetic attachment. Once you have a true mate, no one else stirs you or can successfully breed with you. It means a life alone without family if you are not with them." His tone was matter of fact as he started kissing his way up her arm.

  With his free hand, he started to unlace the neckline of her shirt and her breath was coming in short pants. If she opened her mouth and said the wrong thing, he would stop, so she bit her lower lip and closed her eyes as he peeled the leather from her inch by inch.

  "Do you want me?"

  His words vibrated against her throat and it took her long seconds to process. "I don't think I have ever wanted anyone else." The honesty of her words sent a bolt of blinding clarity through her. It was true, from the moment he had been hauled in front of her, it had been him. Only him.

  His harsh groan started a flurry of tugging and pulling as the leathers were removed and she knelt naked in the grass next to the pool.

  She quickly turned their meal so it wouldn't burn and by the time she turned back to him, his boots were off and his trousers were undone. Steel reached for him, releasing his cock from its confinement. She examined him closely, noting the flared head, the dark flush of skin along the shaft and the wet pearl of precum emanating from him.

  Her tongue flicked out and she lapped at the head for a moment before taking it between her lips and sucking lightly.

  She slowly moved him deeper into the moist recesses of her mouth and pulled back in a slow rhythm that sent a pulse low in her belly and caused a slick response between her thighs.

  "Steel, stop. This is not the joining for that kind of fun." He pulled away from her with a groan and she stared at him in a daze.

  His trousers fell onto hers and naked, he hauled her to her feet and held her against him. "Are you sure?"

  "I am sure." No other words were necessary.

  He knelt at her feet with his cock pointing up in demanding invitation. His fingers slipped between her thighs and stroked her into a writhing frenzy before he pressed the backs of her knees to drop her onto him.

  He cupped her buttocks and lowered her into position with her legs looping around his hips. She arched her back and held his shoulders as he forged into her until the backs of her thighs were flat on the tops of his and they both were panting for control.

  She looked up into his eyes and they kissed slowly as he started to lift and lower her in a hot and drowsy beat.

  The world around them spun away and there was nothing between them but the pleasure that the slow and heady motions generated. Steel felt her body tightening with tension and she ruthlessly fought her release when it would have overwhelmed her.

  "Let it come, Steel."

  "No. Not yet." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to him, licking and kissing the salty traces on his skin. The muscles of his chest jumped when her lips closed over one nipple and he gave a harsh groan when she shifted to the other side to attack the other one for the same treatment.

  He lifted and dropped her harder, his pelvis striking her clitoris and the hard pressure had her digging her nails into his shoulders and cries started coming from her throat hard and fast.

  A moment away from release, Wyanic leaned down and sank his teeth into the joint of neck and shoulder. He groaned and pumped into her furiously as she screamed and shattered with the pleasure-pain rippling out from the centre of her being and echoing through her limbs.

  Wrung out and dripping with sweat, she pressed her forehead to his cheek. He released her neck and licked the punctures closed. His lips tasted of blood and lust and when their joining kiss was over, she leaned against him revel
ling in the feeling of completion.

  "We need to attend to lunch. It's smelling very done."

  She laughed and regretfully pried herself off him, the musky scent of his seed coming to her the moment she stood.

  The weasel was almost scorched, but she was in time with a practiced rotation to keep the cooking relatively even. It was high enough that the meat was being cooked by the hot air and not the fire itself.

  "I think a bath before lunch is in order. I still smell a little like goat." She grinned and jumped into the rippling pool.

  She didn't see him shift, but when a large black cat was suddenly paddling around next to her, she knew it was her lover.

  "Very nice. I thought cats didn't like water." She chuckled to herself as she sluiced the water against her folds until the remains of their mating was removed and the pounding heat was cooled. Shivering, she left the pool and attended to the cooking meat, drying herself by the fire as a pleasant side effect.

  She was turning to dry her back when a hissing sound began from the forest. "Wyanic, if you have a weapon, draw it now."

  A dark shadow moved between her and the sound. A huge cat with armoured scales. "Nice. It spits venom."

  He glanced back at her and flicked a secondary lid over his eyes. He waited between her and danger until the hissing ceased.

  The attack was as sudden as it was ferocious. Steel ducked and took the food with her behind a covered outcropping. She could hear the battle, but until the triumphant howl, had been unsure how well Wyanic was faring.

  A momentous splash told her that he was bathing off the blood and venom, restarting her heart. For a moment, she didn't know if it would ever beat again.

  Chapter Ten

  "What was that?"

  "Forest lizard. We haven't seen one in a while, but since the hunters avoid this area for the sake of my privacy, it must have moved into this territory." She held up their meal and winced at the splattered blood and venom that had thankfully missed their clothing. Flinging them to the side of the pool had been fortunate. The lizards hated water.

  Naked and barefoot, she picked her way to the clothing carefully. "You hold this while I dress and then I will hold it while you do."

  "Why get dressed?"

  "The venom is kind of acidic for my skin. I don't react well to the contact and the whole place is now covered in it." She smiled as she took in his physical perfection, then frowned as she saw the gouges along his side. "It got you."

  "Nothing deadly. My immune system adapts just like my body does. Hand me the weasel." He held out his hands and she put the spit in them, the nicely finished meat smelling wonderful.

  She tugged on her clothing with only a few hard jerks when the leather stuck to damp skin. She dusted the soles of her feet with her palms before she put her boots on and then she took the meat back from him so he could dress.

  Watching carefully, she noticed the signs he was wavering and in pain. The moment he was done, she picked up her knives and silently led him back to the village.

  By the time they reached the village, Wyanic had his arm around her shoulder and an increasing weight on her shoulders had her making a beeline for the clinic.

  "Neeva!"

  The healer rushed out of the clinic doors and paused as she took in the pallor of her patient. "Room two. Forest lizard?"

  Steel steered him through the doors of the clinic and aimed him at the exam room. "Yup. How did you guess?"

  "You were the same colour when you got hit."

  With a groan, he tumbled to the exam table and Steel saw his colour for the first time since the pool. Green and bronze were vying for control of his skin.

  Neeva sent her for the poultices needed and laid her hands over the wounds to help Wyanic keep the infection at bay.

  Steel muttered to herself as she collected the jars from the shelves, set water to boil and scuttled back to Wyanic's side. "Stupid. I should never have dragged you into the woods without proper weapons."

  He looked up at her and smiled. "I distracted you and I am glad I did. What will happen to the carcass?"

  "Well, if I can send the tanners out to fetch it, it will be made into leather for belts or purses, depending on how badly you slashed up that hide."

  "It was pretty tough. I got in under the jaw line." He was regaining his colour, but Neeva's gaze told her to keep him talking while she worked.

  "Do you think Davol should go with them when they go to collect it?"

  "Yes, I think he would be favourably impressed at what a man with morning sickness can do. He hasn't stopped teasing me about that."

  "Well, you have to admit that there is a certain amusement factor it in. It will be a great story to tell Junior."

  "I am still not sold on the name Junior. What about Estelle Liaka?" He winced as Neeva put the poultice on.

  "What does it mean, Liaka?"

  Neeva looked up, "Glowing heart."

  Steel looked down at Wyanic. His colour was getting better by the second. "So, between Pishin and Oefric, she will be the maker of the glowing heart? That is a fairly heavy name for such a little thing."

  "She will grow into it. I am sure of it." He raised his hand and took hers in his grip. "So, will you try and make a life with me?"

  "The village needs me."

  "So? I can move. In fact, after a suitable adjustment period, many of the Oefric are interested in becoming one with your village."

  "How could they make such a quick decision?"

  "It was easy. Joining the colony, they swore to do whatever they could to create an anchoring presence on Barkesh. Right now, you are more anchored than we are, so it is join you or fail in our assignment." He winced as Neeva changed the poultice.

  "You aren't serious? What happened to keeping us apart?"

  He looked embarrassed. "Our colony elders thought your people would fade away in a few generations. That does not seem to be the case, so they have adapted to the new realization that you are a thriving colony and we need to join you."

  Steel shook her head. "That must have been one hell of a meeting."

  "You have no idea. Not all of the colonists are interested, but a seed has been planted and now, with your permission and as space becomes available, more Oefric will come here and join your village."

  Neeva kept her head down, "Steel's Rest."

  He grinned. "Correct, they will come and become citizens of Steel's Rest. It was part of the questions that I asked when I ran through town and spoke to all of your people today. They seem downright enthusiastic."

  She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "What did you promise them?"

  "Only our help in rendering and creating creams and cosmetics. It was the first thing one of our specialists focussed on." He grimaced.

  "Which specialist?"

  "My sister, Havva. She asked me for some tech-specific equipment a few months ago and that was why I was on the station when I was taken. I was on a trading mission." He grunted when Neeva started to wind a bandage around his waist.

  "So, that is why you were off Barkesh at all. You were shopping." She started to laugh. "I was on holiday and trying to use every last second of freedom. Too bad I didn't know how going to that tavern was going to turn out."

  "Drugged?"

  "Yup."

  "Me, too. We have a tremendous amount in common, which is funny considering how unlikely our meeting would have been if you were simply the logistical specialist. Davol would have been your keeper until your assignment was completed and you would have left the moment the town was running smoothly."

  She nodded in acknowledgement. "What are the future plans for the colony? I can't imagine the small population spreading over the surface in less than a thousand years."

  "Once we have a generation of healthy children, other races will be invited to join our settlements. We are looking for a ten percent population increase before we invite other species in."

  "So, why did you invite the survivors?"

  "The
y needed a home and with you dead, it brought me closer to you, knowing that you gave your life to free them." His sincerity was blazing in his eyes and then his lids started to droop.

  "Ah." She couldn't reply through the lump in her throat. She held his hand until he fell asleep and then moved the gurney he was on into her room.

  She let Junior watch over him while she returned to help Neeva tidy up. The used poultices were thrown into the fire and the smoke vented outside.

  "I am going to talk to Vullo."

  "I will keep an eye on him."

  With her lips tight and shoulders locked, she jogged to the tannery. The smell was appalling, but the result was wonderful. Vullo and his kind took care of the skinning with their one vital talent. They lacked a sense of smell.

  "Vullo! Are you here?" She didn't pass the marks on the floor from where skins were dragged across the floor. Getting slapped in the face with a goatskin once was quite enough.

  As if her thoughts had conjured it, a hanging skin went whipping through the entryway. Vullo was behind it.

  "Steel, how nice to see you."

  "Nice to see you, too, Vullo. Are you interested in a lizard carcass?"

  He gave her a smile. "Don't tell me you killed one and didn't even get bloody."

  "No. Wyanic the Oefric killed it near my meditation pool."

  "How near?" Eagerness lit his eyes.

  "Well, right there. Next to the pool. About…" She turned and checked the sunlight. "Three hours ago. It should still be relatively scavenger free."

  "Thanks, Steel. I will let you know if we manage to find and retrieve it. I will have to round up the Jendar to grab it and help with the processing." He was fidgeting as if he couldn't wait to be somewhere else.

  "Fine. Go. It was quite large so bring at least four men."

  "Definitely. Off you go. You will want to attend to your mate."

  She frowned at him, but left the tannery, breathing the sweet air of the outdoors the moment she had cleared the building.