“Duh! I know that! I was just thinking maybe we could rig something up to catch rain?”
He moved out of the hut and stood for several moments with his head tilted back, studying the canopy above them. She didn’t know how he could do that! She swayed the moment she looked up.
He caught her arm, steadying her. He didn’t release her immediately, though. He seemed to be struggling with something. “What you said last eve,” he finally said, “did you mean it? Or were you just saying it to make me feel better?”
Danika stared at him blankly, trying to recall what she’d said. She remembered asking him that when she’d been wounded and for a moment that was all that came to mind.
“You said that you would love to do that with me again,” he prompted.
She put the shower sex together with her complaint about the water situation abruptly. Before she could inform him, testily, that she certainly wasn’t in the ‘mood’ at the moment, not after the sex with both Niles and Basil the night before, she realized that there was nothing sexually suggestive about the question. He looked … troubled.
“I did not … do anything … wrong?” he asked, reddening faintly.
Danika gaped at him, feeling dismay, disbelief, and empathy wash over her. “Of course not! Why would you think that? My god! I screamed loud enough I woke up everybody in the crew quarters!”
He frowned. “It did not seem to me that you were … pleased.”
Danika felt her dismay deepen. Impulsively, she moved closer to him, lifting her hands to capture his face. “It was wonderful. I loved every minute of it. I was just … uncomfortable when I realized how … uh … indiscrete I’d been. It wasn’t you at all! I was embarrassed aboutmybehavior.”
He frowned, obviously considering it and still confused. “You seemed … distant afterward.”
Danika grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I was just … distracted.” She studied him for a moment to see if that had sunk in and if it had helped his feelings. “Hey! You know me! If I think you’ve done something wrong, I let you know. I wouldn’t just keep it to myself and be mad.” She shook her head at him and then rose on her tiptoes and dragged his head down to plant a kiss on his lips. He took it as an invitation for more and dragged her tightly against him, kissing her deeply. She was so dizzy and disoriented by the time he released her that she would’ve fallen out of the tree if he’d let go.
She sent him a rueful smile when she’d caught her balance. “I’m crazy about you, you know. But I’m going to be pissed if I fall out of this tree—assuming I’m able to get up again.”
“I would not allow you to fall,” he said, smiling faintly in return.
Danika chuckled. “I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t do me any good if you fell on top of me trying to catch me either.”
To her relief, he released her and returned his attention to the work of cleaning. Well, partial relief. She really wasn’t in the mood for sex, but the kiss had definitely piqued her interest.
They decided after they’d done what they could for the moment to improve their comfort level and eaten their noon meal to go out and check the snares and the capture pits since they hadn’t had any luck so far in simply stalking and bringing something down. Three of the snares had been tripped, but whatever it was that had tripped them had been big enough to tear the entire snare loose and get away.
The capture pits were a bonanza. They captured three small, cloven hoofed animals that looked like something between a rabbit and a tiny deer—and a wild pig.
And one of the women from one of the other groups.
Her men had just managed to extract her when Danika and her squad arrived to check the pit. Danika assessed the situation quickly and decided diplomacy was needed. “Shit! Those fucking savages left traps!”
All four of her men glanced quickly at her in surprise, but, to her relief, they didn’t say anything—because Janeandher men looked pretty pissed off. Especially when they discovered Jane had sprained her ankle in the fall. Fortunately, the medic-borg that had attended Dane when he was so badly wounded seemed to have joined Jane’s squad and was able to determine that it was a sprain and not a break and not even a very bad sprain.
Danika debated briefly while her men fought over which of them would carry her back to their camp, but she coveted the medic-borg and she thought that trumped any of the reservations she had about inviting the group to join hers. “We found the village. The savages had abandoned it and the accommodations aren’t half bad. If you guys want to follow us back, you can check it out yourselves …?”
The guys seemed more inclined to head back to the camp they’d made, but Jane nixed that. “Really?” She seemed to consider it. “I think even huts would be better than just a sleeping bag.”
“Well, they are huts, but they’re pretty tight—good defensive position, too.”
She didn’t think any of the men were happy about the situation, hers or Jane’s, but the medic, Joseph, won the toss, hoisted Jane into his arms and indicated that he was willing to follow.
Danika made it a point to avoid the capture pits they’d dug, but they had three little beasts just waiting for the cook pot. She glanced at Seth. “You think you guys could come up with something to corral our catch? I mean, we don’t have any way to keep our kills from spoiling except the stream and that won’t keep the meat long. I think it would be better to just pen them up until we need them.”
Seth nodded and the men discussed the possibility of designing a prison for their pig-deers.
Jane, as she’d hoped, was thrilled with the treetop village—not as thrilled once the guys had devised a hoist to get her up, but Danika figured that was most likely because of the ride. She settled on a branch, propped against one of the trunks after she’d examined the hut Danika had chosen and directed her men in cleaning the one she’d chosen.
“Do you think that we can trust them?” Seth asked when she joined her men to see how they were doing with the pen they were erecting.
Danika shrugged. “I don’t really know Jane, unfortunately, but she seemed inclined to be glad she’d been kidnap … uh … rescued. I think it’s safe enough for now, anyway, since there isn’t a base anywhere near us. Besides, I think having a medic-borg might come in handy.”
