It transpired that she was right. After little more than an hour she was liberally smeared from her neck to her boots with dirt and the sticky plant sap that produced streaks of varying shades of green, purple, and yellow, and her pale skin was already turning red from the sun's burning rays. She didn't know how it was that the guys managed to work without looking like they'd been rolled across the ground when she'd picked up a little of everything she touched!
Ok, so she was having more trouble walking through the damned tangle of debris than they were! She supposed that might account for it.
She had to say one thing for the guys. While they'd been far more responsible for clearing the jungle in the first place, they were also far more efficient in cleaning up their mistake. Within a couple of hours they'd gathered up the bodies of the natives that had attacked them and removed them several hundred yards further into the jungle and transplanted enough vegetation to fill in the first several yards of the clearing they'd made.
Danika was pretty exhausted by the time they were allowed to stop to rest and eat the noon meal. Xeno-11's gravity was going to take some getting used to after the lighter gravity on Xeno-12--and the heat. But she thought they would have their presence mostly disguised from at least casual observation by dusk--depending, of course, on how many hours of light they actually had. She didn't have a clue as to how long the days were on the planet.
She didn't realize that Reuel was watching their progress until a little later when he sent several more squads to help them with their task. She was grateful since she'd had time to realize that her estimate of the time it would take was grossly optimistic.
Their new base camp had been transformed by the time the sun set. The outcropping of rock that had attracted Reuel to the place to start with since it offered some concealment of their ships was deeper than they'd at first thought. They were able to move the largest ship almost completely out of sight beneath the overhanging rock and several of the smaller ones had been partially hidden. Those not assigned the task of repairing the damage to the jungle gathered a mixture of the vegetation that had been cut down and living plants to help conceal the ships.
Danika was ready to drop by the time they were allowed to stop for the night. She almost fell asleep before she could finish her meal and as soon as she had, she headed to the bunk she'd been assigned, crawled into it, and fell asleep in all her grime. She wasn't up to waiting in line for use of the facilities, though.
Seth obviously didn't approve. It seemed she'd barely dropped off when he dragged her out of her bunk again. "The facilities are available now."
"Great! Enjoy! I'm going back to bed," she said in a sleep-slurred, drunken voice.
He caught her as she started trying to climb back into her bunk, swung her into his arms and headed for the facilities.
"Damn it, Seth! If you throw me in the water I'm going to beat the fuck out of you!" she snarled.
He chuckled. It was such an unexpected sound that it brought her eyes open. "You could not beat the fuck out of me if you were not exhausted."
As irritated as she was, his amusement, instead of making her madder, appealed to her sense of the ridiculous. "I'll still try."
"You will feel better when you have bathed. And you will sleep better."
"I was unconscious when you dragged me out of the fucking bunk," she muttered, her ire rising to the forefront once more. "It can'tgetbetter than that!"
He stood her on her feet. When she wavered drunkenly, he slipped one arm around her and pulled her close against his side while he adjusted the water.
Danika knew he'd only done it to prevent her from falling. She knew she should be way too tired to feel any interest at all in the fact that she was plastered against him half naked, but she supposed, later, that it was the very fact that she was too tired to think straight to begin with that made her so conscious of him. The warmth of sensual awareness had already begun to thread its ghostly fingers along her nerve endings and strum them before she had time to consider consciously and make any decision at all. Instincts had taken over. Her weariness enveloped her in a fuzzy sort of cocoon that shielded her from awareness beyond the two of them.
As soon as the warm water began to cascade over them and Seth began to rub his free hand over her the vague warmth flowered into full blown heat. Danika swallowed a little convulsively, struggling then to shut her mind to the feel of his hand coasting over her and the brush of her skin against his with each breath she took.
Belatedly, reason tried to assert itself. His touch felt good and the desire for more was like a drug in her system.
But this was Seth. They worked together--workedwelltogether, she thought. If she stepped across the invisible line between them that would change and she might not like the change. And there would be no going back.
It would've been bad enough to consider it if he was as human as she was, but he wasn't. He hadn't gotten the chance to mature naturally. Who knew what sort of psychological damage he had from what had been done to him? Who knew how he might react--both in the short term and long range from what she was thinking? He was still trying to come to grips with everything else that was new to him.
And yet, when he eased slightly away from her and looked down at her, she couldn't resist looking up at him. When she did, reason fled. Desire flared higher as she studied the harsh planes of his face and the darkness of his gaze that told her he was as aroused as she was.
For several moments, she was simply ensnared by his gaze and the promise of pleasure. Even as reason thrust itself forward again and her instincts prompted her to move away from him, he lowered his head towards her.
She knew he meant to kiss her and her throat went dry with want. She hesitated, reluctant to move away then.
Just a kiss, she told herself.
He might be angry and hurt if she rejected him flat out.
One kiss wasn't going to rock their world and screw everything up.
It would be awkward and disappointing for both of them and then they could get past their curiosity and discomfort and that would be the end of that.
It wasn't her he wanted, she told herself. He was just naturally curious and she was available.
She almost felt like she'd inadvertently stepped on a livewire when their lips met. The jolt that went through her so thoroughly rattled her that her mind had turned to mush before he even deepened the kiss. Darkness threatened to rise up and engulf her.
