“I didn’t understand all of that.”
She shook her head. “Last night, for the first time, I actually felt a spark of anxiety when I imagined us being rescued.”
He frowned. She had?
Her pretty features solemn, she rested a small, wet hand against the side of his face and stroked his cheek with her thumb. “I know it sounds crazy, but I found myself worrying that once we’re rescued, you’ll go back to Purvel and I’ll be taken to Lasara and… that will be it for us. That I’ll never see you again.”
Everything within him balked at the notion. And he couldn’t keep himself from wrapping an arm around her as if such could keep her from leaving.
“I don’t want that,” she professed softly. “Because I can’t imagine not being with you every day, Jak’ri. I can’t imagine you not being the first person I speak with when I wake up in the morning or the last person I see before I fall asleep at night.” Setting the canteen aside, she leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “You’ve been in my head often enough these past few days. Don’t you know how I feel about you?” She kissed him again. “I love you like an Earth woman loves a husband. Like a Lasaran or a Purveli loves a lifemate.”
And that’s exactly what he wanted her to be: his lifemate. But how—
“We’ll figure it out,” she promised softly.
“Together.”
The breeze picked up, dragging several strands of hair across her face. A tender smile curled her lips as she nodded. “Together we can do anything.”
He arched a brow. “Including start our own colony here on this planet?”
She grinned. “If that’s what it takes? Absolutely.”
The little leapers looked around suddenly, then disappeared into the trees.
Thunder rumbled through the forest.
As one, he and Ava looked up. The canopy above was so dense that they couldn’t see the sky. But Jak’ri thought the forest was darkening faster than usual.
“We should hurry,” he murmured. “We don’t know how harsh the storms are here.”
“Agreed.”
Having already filled their canteens, they rushed through their baths and washing their clothes. Even so, big drops began to pelt them as they jogged toward the cave. Within minutes, the dry clothing they’d donned was plastered against their skin. The dirt beneath their feet metamorphosed into mud. And rivulets formed in the soil, carrying the water that washed down the rocks toward the stream behind them.
As soon as they reached the cave’s entrance, Ava, turned sideways and slid out of sight.
Jak’ri followed, cursing as the rock scraped his arm. Now that he was eating more and in better health, the crevice that allowed them passage into the cave was a tighter fit.
For Ava, too, he noticed. She’d regained some of the weight she’d lost. So by the time they made it inside, her wet shirt bore a streak of dirt across her beautiful breasts. A similar streak adorned her nicely rounded bottom.
Once inside, she turned to him with a wry smile. “If we keep eating the way we have been, you’re going to have to shove me through there with a foot on my butt.”
He laughed at the image. “And you’ll have to pry me out with a stick.”
She grinned. Then her smile vanished and her eyes flashed bright amber with fury.
Spinning around, she drew the blade she always strapped to her thigh and sank into a crouch.
Jak’ri dropped the bag and drew his blaster. What is it? he asked her telepathically.
I heard a scuttling sound.
His heart pounded in his chest as he listened intently.
There.
He followed her gaze to the southeastern corner. The hesku he’d activated the previous night still provided dim enough light to provoke a faint luminescence in the streaks of ore that adorned the walls.
Nevertheless, a few shadows lingered here and there.
Beside him, Ava relaxed. “It’s okay. It’s three of the leapers.”
He could see them now as they crept closer. A male, a female, and their young. “Perhaps this storm is going to be a bad one.”
Smiling, she knelt and patted the baby on its head. “Or maybe they’re greedier than the rest and want more food.”
Two more leapers peeked into the cave, then cautiously entered, their fur dripping.
Ava laughed. “Nope. It’s the storm.” She sent him a wry smile. “Looks like we’re going to have company tonight.”
She barely had time to finish the sentence before the rest of the furry clan tumbled inside.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The storm raged off and on all night, bringing with it bright flashes of lightning that lit up the passage and thunderous booms that felt as if they shook the very mountain itself. Although torrential rains fell outside, the cave that served as their home remained dry.
Ava spent many hours calming and crooning to the little leapers that huddled together miserably. Jak’ri did, too.
She smiled as she watched him feed one of the babies a piece of fruit. He was such a sweetheart.
Glancing up, he returned her smile and winked.
All was quiet now. Or as quiet as it usually was. With her enhanced hearing, she could hear a lot. And what she heard now told her the storm had finally passed.
The leapers must have drawn the same conclusion because they headed for the exit and took their leave.
Apparently they weren’t big fans of the cave. Ava wasn’t sure if the other animals they could smell in here made them nervous or if they just preferred the open space of trees.
She cast Jak’ri an appraising look.
He arched a brow. “Something on your mind, beautiful?”
She loved that he was picking up Earth sayings from her. “Maybe.” Scooting closer to him, she leaned in and nuzzled his neck. “Now that the kids are gone…”
Smiling, Jak’ri turned his head and captured her lips.
Pleasure darted through her when he deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking and teasing hers. Turning toward her, he palmed one of her breasts.
Yes. Ava threw a leg over his thighs and straddled him.
Jak’ri continued to stroke her breast as he wrapped his other arm around her and pressed her hips into his, letting her feel his arousal.
A sound reached her ears.
Frowning, she drew back.
Jak’ri trailed heated kisses down her neck, then sought her lips once more.
But Ava turned her face away and listened intently.
“What is it?” he asked, expression solemn.
Fear trickled through her. “I hear a ship.”
Eyes widening, Jak’ri surged to his feet, taking Ava with him.
As she dropped her feet to the ground, the sound faded.
“Is it hovering or did it pass by?” he asked.
“It passed by.”
“Going in what direction?”
“North.”
They stared at each other a moment. And she could hear his heart beating as furiously as her own.
“We need to see who it is,” he said. “Rescuers or Gathendiens.”
She nodded. “Then we’ll decide what to do.”
If the craft carried rescuers, the decision would be easy: Get the hell out of Dodge and ask their saviors to ferry them to Purvel. But if instead the Gathendiens had found them swifter than anticipated, she and Jak’ri would have to choose between two paths: “Stay and fight,” she murmured, “or Plan B.”