Marik said, “Of course. Here you’re free to walk wherever you want to.”
That understanding was back in his voice again. She flinched away from it. Oh, how she wished she was a bolder person, one who could simply put the past behind her and move forward with real bravery. She nodded and said, “Thank you.”
He followed along behind her as she headed for the tree, discomfiting her even further. When they reached it, she put a hand to it and then used her fingernail to peel away a small section of bark. Excitement hit. She exclaimed, “See? I believe this is it!”
Marik leaned in close. She caught a whiff of the scent: a clean and fresh smell that made her want to lean in closer to him. She backed away instead, her hand curling over the small shred of bark that she held in her palm. Marik’s eyes lifted away from her hand to her face. His eyes fastened on hers and that feeling that she always got around him came racing back in, making her shift a few times from foot to foot.
Marik said, “So what can we use it for?”
She gulped and turned her gaze away from his face to the tree. “It works well for pain and fever. If it’s boiled away from the bark and then left to cool a sort of thick white stuff forms at the top of the liquid. You have to skim it off, and you can dry it and give it out as a powder, or you can allow someone to drink some of the liquid. But it can be strong.”
Marik said, “Good to know.”
He moved away from the tree, and she moved in a direction away from him. Her heart pounded again as she sneaked to glance over her shoulder at him to see him kneeling by a patch of flowers, a look of utter concentration written all over his handsome face.
She was betraying Ben. Or was she? How could she betray a man who was not even there? A man who might be dead? A man who might have already found another?
Realization hit, hard. Jenny’s mouth opened and then closed as she realized that the reason she was so uncomfortable around Marik, the reason she always felt that she was betraying Ben when she was near him, was simply because she had some sort of attraction to him.
That left her feeling dazed and bruised. That was not something that an engaged woman should feel for another being! Especially one who was not even human.
She turned her attention away from him and toward the fields. A bright flash of purple caught her eyes and excitement mounted in her as she raced towards it. She bent to examine the small roots and stems of the plant, and that excitement rang out from her voice when she called out, “Marik! Come here! I think I found something!”
She was still kneeling on the ground, her knee pressed into warm dirt and grass when he appeared at her side. She looked up at the length of his body, and her heart did another fast series of pounds in her chest. Her mouth went dry. The sun lit his hair and shone around him in a soft gold nimbus that outlined every inch of his powerful body in a way that made her aware that he was very definitely male.
He knelt down beside her, one long finger stroking the leaves and blossoms of the plant that she had discovered. “What is it?”
Jenny gave him the name and then said, “It works to heal bones that are broken. You can use it as a poultice or as a drink.”
Just then, the sound of ships flying overhead caught their attention. Jenny looked up to see a battered ship circling, and she said, “It looks like Talon and Jessica have returned again.”
Marik nodded. “We will gather some of these plants and some of that bark and then head back. There’s plenty of time to collect more things later.”
Their hands touched as they began to harvest the plant and a slow thrill ran up and down her spine. That that was sexual attraction had never occurred to her before. She had heard of it of course, but she had never felt it, not even with Ben. That she felt it now made her feel even worse.
The plant gathered, they stopped and took a small bit of bark from the tree then headed back down the hills. Marik walked faster than she did due to his long legs and she had to hurry to keep up. The sound of the ship died, and it dropped from view, letting her know that it had landed.
As they approached, they saw the crew, as well as Jessica and Talon, exiting the ship. Renall stood nearby, a frown on his face as he watched the battered group disembark.
Marik said to Jenny, “Go back to the med–bay, if you don’t mind, and put those things away. I need to go see what’s happening.”
She nodded and took the flowers and stems and bark that they had collected and headed for the building, casting one last look over her shoulder. Her heart gave a painful throb and she wasn’t sure if it was because it was breaking over her betrayal of Ben or because she felt something new growing in the place of the emotions that she had for Ben.
