Chapter Ten
It was an ugly, huge, shaggy-looking thing, what the barbarian called hishataar.Long-necked, longhaired, four-legged, it had a mane that fell on each side of its neck down to its spindly legs, and a tail of hair that nearly dragged on the ground. Its back, which was to be sat on, was as high as Tedra was tall. She knew it now to be an animal for riding, but the Sha-Ka’ari must have had a different name for theirs, if they had any, forhataarwas not in their store of words. The Kystran Ancients had a similar animal for use as transportation, but not nearly as big and ugly, and long since extinct.
The barbarian’shataarwas black in body coat, with a white tail and mane that surprisingly showed no discoloration. It had been tied at the end of the tree line, or the beginning, depending on which direction you were coming from. Tedra had immensely enjoyed walking through those low-limbed, lovely green trees, savoring the smell of verdant earth and growing things. All vegetation had died on Kystran during the Great Water Shortage, which had led to the invention of solaray baths. By that time all Kystran food was being grown on the space stations or imported from other worlds, and wood had long since become inferior as a building material, so the loss of greenery on the planet hadn’t been considered a serious catastrophe or an urgent problem to solve. And when the scientists had got around to solving it, the land was extremely desertlike, good only for being paved or built on. A Kystran park consisted of a great expanse of brown solidite paving, dotted with gigantic metal sculptures of trees and plants, a far cry from what she was seeing today.
The barbarian had carried the poortaraan,which was still living only because it was still in stun. He had been glad, though, that he could avoid leaving a trail of blood behind him. Tedra refrained from asking why that should matter. She’d yet to see any of the wild animals on the planet, but that didn’t mean they weren’t around.
There was a harnesslike contraption around the neck and chest of thehataarthat reins were attached to, and which sported a handhold in the center to use for mounting, since the beast was saddleless and merely covered with a thin fur blanket. A long fur sack and two small rabbitlike animals hung from it on small ropes, and the barbarian tied thetaraanto this as well, it being not so long that it would drag on the ground.
Tedra was definitely not looking forward to riding on that giant thing to wherever they were going, though the animal’s back was so long and wide there would be plenty of room for two or even three people to sit comfortably. But once her companion had finished securing everything, he didn’t climb aboard so they could get on their way. He turned to her instead and, after a moment of thoughtful study, reached over to finger the sleeve of her tunic.
“These still offend me, woman.”
That was all he said, but he stood there waiting, as if she were a mind reader. And maybe she was. The grin wasn’t on those chiseled lips, but Tedra knew it should have been. He’d got his way upside and down, and had gone through a good deal of trouble explaining the facts of Kan-is-Tran life to her so she’d know there could be no more refusing on her part. Either she’d have to take the offensive clothes off, or he’d likely do it for her, and she could just imagine how unpleasant that would be.
And then it occurred to her that if she shed down to nothing, the barbarian might do the same. After all, what lusty male of any culture would pass up such an opportunity? They were alone, and there was a blanket of sorts on thehataarthat would spread nicely under a nearby tree. It wasn’t too farfetched to assume that some pleasant sex-sharing might improve the barbarian’s attitude somewhat. A little give-and-take on his part would certainly improve hers.
“Betcha fifty, exchange tokens, warrior, that no one’s ever accused you of being flexible. But that’s all right. Single-mindedness does have its virtues. Lucky for you I know how to give in graciously.”
She flashed him a cheeky grin before slipping out of one boot and tossing it to him, then the next. Her utility belt opened with a tug, and, emboldened by the way his dark eyes were attending her every movement, she draped it around his neck, chuckling softly when his lips tightened and he dropped the belt and boots on the ground beside him. The tight neck of her tunic top was designed to give for easy removal, and within moments it joined the other items on the ground. But with the top half of her body stocking now revealed, the barbarian missed seeing her pants slide right off.
He was clearly fascinated by this undergarment that seemed painted on her, it fitted so closely. Made of glittering silver trilon, it covered her skin from the top of her breasts down to her toes, and this fascinated him even more. A tug at the top and it parted down the sides all the way to her ankles, so she only had to step out of it—and now the body stocking was forgotten.
For long, silent moments his eyes examined what the challenge had given him. Tedra became very still, her playful mood gone. No man had ever seen her like this before, and she hadn’t realized how disconcerting it would be. And it was impossible to tell what this one was thinking, if he even liked what he saw. Those intense black eyes gave no clue.
“There was more hidden beneath your warrior’s clothing than I had thought,kerima.”
The color crept up Tedra’s chest into her cheeks. She would have known he was referring to her large breasts even if he hadn’t been staring at them when he said that. Her body stocking did much to flatten that area, a necessary measure for someone in her profession who couldn’t afford a distracting bounce interfering with her job. She wished he hadn’t mentioned it. She wished even more that he would take the step that separated them and fold her into his arms to lessen the embarrassment she was now feeling at being naked while he was not.
What was he waiting for anyway? Surely not an invitation?
“This you may keep,” he said, picking up the kystral necklace that had come off with her tunic.
He came closer to carefully put the necklace over her head. He even pulled her long tail of hair out from under it, and she thought, Now he’ll kiss me. But he didn’t. He stepped back to admire the way the two strands caressed the top of her breasts, drawing the eye there, and Tedra could only stare at him in bewilderment. His restraint wasn’t normal. It went against everything she knew about men and sex-sharing; she might not have tried it yet, but she knew all there was to know about it. The barbarian had demanded sex-sharing service of her. That had to mean he wanted her, didn’t it?
Whatever it meant, Tedra had the sinking feeling she wasn’t going to find out any time soon, and her disappointment was suddenly so keen, the sarcasm just dripped from her words. “Kystrals go nicely with this outfit, don’t they?”
“Indeed.”
She glared at him. “Nowisn’tthe time for you to be agreeable, warrior. I didn’t strip down to stay stripped down, so give me something else—Stars, whatisthat?” Tedra gasped, seeing a huge white beast loping toward them through the trees. “My phazor, quick, man—give it here before we’re on tonight’s menu.”
She held out her hand for the unit, but her eyes remained glued to the beast that was getting closer by the second. With those visible fangs, she was afraid it was carnivorous, and it was nearly as big as thehataar,too big certainly for a barbarian to tangle with. The head was round with tufted ears, the body long, sleek, and short-pelted, the tail about as long as the trunk. Its paws alone were twice the size of her fists, and she had no desire to meet up with the long claws they would contain. But her hand remained empty, and she finally spared a glance at the barbarian, to find he had turned to stare at the beast, but no more than that. His hand hadn’t even approached his sword handle, let alone her unit.
With his back to her, the phazor was staring her in the face, and Tedra didn’t even think about hesitating. But the moment her fingers touched it, other fingers grabbed hers and lightly tossed her hand away from it.
“Are you nuts?” she shrieked.
The barbarian only looked down at her, facing her again, his expression inscrutable. To the side of him, she saw the beast, still in a lope coming toward them and just ten feet away now. And it roared—loudly.
“Oh, Staaaarrrs!” Tedra cried and ran for the nearest tree.
She heard the laughter before she even reached the limb which spread out about twelve feet off the ground, though that didn’t stop her from gaining a perch on it. It was sturdy enough to support her, but she still gripped it for dear life, tree climbing as alien to her as trees were. Only when she was lying down flat on it and was sure she wasn’t in danger of sliding off did she look down to see what the laughter was all about.
It was the barbarian, of course, and he wasn’t just laughing, but having a fit of it. She kind of figured out why when she saw the huge feline beast sitting on the ground right next to the barbarian, like a damned tamed pet, which Tedra concluded it likely was. She could hear its loud purring over the noise the barbarian was still making as his laughter wound down to chuckles. And the animal was staring up at her with great blue eyes, as if she were a mere curiosity. She was that indeed, naked and up a tree. She was also feeling so foolish and ridiculous that she was hot pink with it.
“That tree you seem so fond of,kerima,would not have served,” she was told as her amused companion approached.
“Oh?”
