The Lawgivers: Gabriel Part 8

She watched him, feeling the brand of his touch fade slowly away. Lifting a hand, she rubbed the spot, wondering why it almost felt like a burn, why she could still feel the ghost of his touch. His hand hadnat felt overly warm and he hadnat held her hard enough to bruise.

It was strange that so slight a touch could make her feel so very peculiar.

Chapter Ten.

Gah-re-al had moved beyond much in the way of reasoning ability where it concerned Lexaa"or more specifically his b.a.l.l.s. It was one thing to abstain when there was no choice because there was no woman available. He was actually able to put s.e.x out of his mind for periods of time and focus completely on whatever task was at hand. It wasnat a great deal harder to manage his libido when the only females within range didnat appeal to him or were downright revolting.

Head never been a great hand at ignoring the demands of his body when there was a woman d.a.m.ned close that did appeal to him, however, and head given up on trying to convince himself that Lexa didnat.

Because his mind and his d.i.c.k were in complete disagreement over that issue.

He spent part of his time trying to think of some way to get her alonea"away from the prying eyes of the villagersa"part of the time berating himself for not seizing the opportunity to f.u.c.k her brains out when head had the chance, and the rest of the time trying to figure out some way to put some distance between her and himself before he did or said something truly stupid.

Contrarily, when he finally emerged from his preoccupation sufficiently to notice his surroundings and realized that they were within a few days of the rendezvous he was far more dismayed than relieved. Happily, it occurred to him shortly behind that realization that his proximity to the rendezvous point meant that he was close enough to Maya for a quick visit to a.s.suage his physical distressa"if he could come up with a reasonable (in the eyes of his superiors) excuse to abandon his charges to take care of it.

A growing sense of desperation eventually provided the solution.

They were dangerously low on supplies. Of course, they had been since the onset of their journey. The resources of the village hadnat been abundant enough to provide what theyad needed for such a grueling trek. If not for the fact that the villagers were accustomed to starvation rations he doubted they wouldave gotten as far as they had before they ran completely out of food.

If hunting the newly introduced wildlife hadnat been forbidden they could have done far better in rationing the supplies theyad brought.

They needed rations to supplement the little that was left or the villagers were going to be too weak to make the rest of the trip.

And high commandas refusal to provide medical attention for Lexa when head felt it was warranted was a perfect excuse to go in person to requisition supplies.

He was still uneasy about leaving Lexa. Shead been attacked when head left her with the villagers before. But he managed to convince himself that he wouldnat be gone long enough for them to grow brazen enough for another attack even if he hadnat managed to convince them that the penalty for a.s.sault was steeper than theyad want to pay.

When head settled them to make camp, therefore, he left, heading directly to headquarters to report. He wasnat surprised that it took longer than head hoped it would to make his report and request the supplies, but he was irritated a and anxious about getting back.

Indecision wasnat something he was accustomed to, but his uneasiness about leaving Lexa with the villagers had seriously impaired his sense of time. Did he dare take more time for a visit with Maya? He decided he could afford it. He thought head reached the point where he couldnat afford not to.

Maya had a visitor. He didnat know why he hadnat considered the possibilitya"unless it was due to the fog swirling in what was left of his brain once head allowed the fever to take full possessiona"but he hadnat. He didnat in fact tumble to it for many moments. He met Maya at her door with a searing kiss and an all over greeting with his hands to prepare her for what he was about to bestow upon hera"weeks of frustration and a buildup of s.e.m.e.n that was liable to put her in orbit.

It took more than a few moments, in fact, for it to penetrate the heated fog of his mind that, although shead returned his kiss after only a momentary resistance, shead planted her back against the door frame and firmly resisted his attempt to dislodge her and sweep her inside. When that finally clicked, he broke the kiss and lifted his head to look a question at her.

There was uneasiness in her gaze and nervousness in the false smile she pinned firmly on her face. aI didnat think youad come by. I have a a visitor.a Gah-re-al stared at her blankly. When it finally sank in, he flicked a glance over her head. A quick sweep of what he could see of her living area failed to reveal any visitor and his mind leapt, not unnaturally, to her bed chambera"which had been his goala"a.s.suming he couldnat convince her before they got that far.

Discomfort, disappointment and anger swept through him in quick succession. aYouare entertaining,a he said flatly, trying to decide if the anger was from jealousy or just vast disappointment, more than a little outraged that shead chosen this moment of all times to decide to f.u.c.k somebody elsea"in the middle of the day at that!

She flushed. aI got the impression the last time you were here that you didnat care.a His lips tightened. Her fis.h.i.+ng expedition for a jealous reaction, however, immediately doused his anger. He released her and stepped away. A vague sense of nausea washed through him.

He thought it was a physical reaction to the abrupt deflation of his c.o.c.k.

aI donat. I just wanted to f.u.c.k,a he said coldly.

As dissatisfied as Gah-re-al was with his encounter with Maya, he was even less pleased to discover when he headed back to the campsite where head left the humans that a convoy of social workers was in route with the requested supplies. He had asked for, and expected, a supply drop. Head chaffed at the likelihood that they would get in no rush to deliver despite his insistence that the supplies were urgently needed and any lengthy delay could result in a loss of lives, but head known the actual delivery wouldnat take long since they were less than fifty clicks from the colony of Choa-toaa"his home base.

He hadnat expected interference from the d.a.m.ned social workers!

Because it hadnat occurred to him that command would shuttle the task off on them when the relocation itself was a military matter and under their jurisdiction. Head antic.i.p.ated turning his charges over when they reached the designated location and not before. Until they were safely settled, the villagers needed his protection. For that matter, the social workers might need ita"from the villagers. Well, he thought as he pa.s.sed over them without acknowledging them, he had every intention of completing the transfer from village to relocation site whether it pleased them or not!

It struck him forcefully that if command had simply pa.s.sed off the order for suppliesa"and clearly they hada"then Maya had known ahead of time that he was there.

Shead been expecting him. He recalled abruptly that shead said she didnat think head come bya"but shead known he was there and hoped he would. That was what that entire scene played out at her door had been about. Shead cooked it up to play mind games with him. No doubt, shead expected him to explode with jealous rage at the discovery that she had someone else in her bed.

Unfortunately for her hopes, he not only didnat care enough to feel any possessiveness, head never believed he was the only man to occupy her bed.

Not that he hadnat been d.a.m.ned disappointed. The only thing worse than having blue b.a.l.l.s from a prolonged period of abstinence was having the expectation of taking care of the problem yanked out from under you.

He spied Lexa, standing a little apart from the villagers, as he landed a short distance from the campsite. Shead watched his descent. He was fairly convinced shead been watching his approach for a while, although she very pointedly ignored him once he had settled on the ground.

All the same, he thought head detected a lightening in her expression before she turned away. Was she glad to see him return, he wondered, or was it merely his imagination because he wanted her to be glad?

Because it was hard to ignore the relief he felt to see that she was alright or the realization that head been on edge from concern that something might happen to her in his absence.

Or that she might take it into her head to take advantage of his absence to take off.

Unfortunately, he discovered it was hard to convince himself that he hadnat imagined she was glad to see him return. She had avoided him since head tried to question her.

aYou brought a others,a Lexa said when he reached her.

Considering his recent unpleasant encounter with Maya he wasnat in the mood to deal with the accusation in Lexaas tone. aTheyare bringing supplies,a he replied curtly.

aWeave got a lot further to go then?a Gah-re-al studied her for a long moment, trying to decide whether she actually sounded relieved or not and if she was, why she was. Because head been right to begin with and she actually had missed him? Or did she think that gave her more opportunities to escape? aA few days.a She nodded. aYouall leave now, though, right?a He tilted his head, eyeing her speculatively. aYou think you might have the chance to escape if Iam not here to watch you?a he asked bluntly.

Her face turned nearly the color of her hair and then the color drained away sharply, leaving her far more pale that she was naturally. Instead of responding, she stalked off and sat down in the dirt near of a large group of females.

If she thought that was going to deter him, he thought angrily, she didnat know him very well!

He narrowed his eyes at her and finally followed, standing over her. aDonat even think about it. I can and will track you down and haul you back.a She tipped her head back to stare up at him, blinking owlishly, but it was impossible to guess what was running through her mind when she blanked her expression like that.

It annoyed him even more. Generally, it was no great feat to figure out what was going through her mind because the emotions her thoughts generated flashed across her face. Apparently, shead figured out how he was areadinga her, though, and shead become far more cautious and secretive.

She frowned after a moment and ducked her head, studying the toe of her boots. He wasnat particularly satisfied, but he knew her well enough by now to know he wasnat going to get a verbal response and he stalked off to meet the group of social workers when they arrived.

It was almost an hour before they reached the group. He wasnat surprised since theyad used a walker to bring the suppliesa"a robot transport specifically designed to haul large loads of supplies over rough terrain, but as slow as be d.a.m.ned!a"but he was angry. He thought head made it clear that theyad been without water for almost a full day alreadya"without food for that matter, but the hunger wasnat as dangerous as dehydration. Theyad had to ration the water before that so no one had had what they should have had even before the water gave out considering the heat.

He shouldave left them to requisition supplies earlier, he thought angrily, but then he had been too focused on his personal concerns to realize just how dire the situation was.

And he hadnat realized that theyad ignored his orders to ration the water in their attempts to fill their empty stomachs because they had so little food.

Too stupid to live popped into his mind, but with the exception of Lexa, they werenat used to living on the trail as far as he knew. Water was always a problem in the wild territories, but the villages generally sprang up where there was a sufficient supply for the demand.

Generally.

They didnat seem to worry much about over-breeding for the resources available to them, but then that might be because life was hard enough the turnover was fairly rapid. The elderly and the very young were the most frequent victims of the harsh life of the primitives.

There was a female he recognized in charge of the group.

She gave him a cold look, which he interpreted to mean she wasnat harboring a lot of affection for him since their last encountera"which he thought had been pleasant enough.

He supposed departing while she was still asleep hadnat gone over well with her.

aIf you will line up in an orderly manner, we will issue water,a she called out to the humans as they brought the walker to a halt.

Despite their wariness of the udai and the uneasy way theyad watched the robot carrying the supplies Gah-re-al wasnat surprised when everyone immediately leapt to their feet and charged toward the group, shoving and pus.h.i.+ng to be first.

aOrderly!a he bellowed. aForm a line!a His bellow halted the threatened stampede. They merely gaped at him, however, as if they had no concept of what he meant by forming a line.

The leader of the group, Phil-a-shee, motioned to two of the men whoad accompanied her. aDraw a line and show them how to line up. You have to be firm with them. Theyare like childrena"that arenat very bright,a she said in their native language, smiling and nodding at the primitives in direct contrast to the insulting nature of her comments.

Gah-re-al sent her a sharp look, feeling a touch of anger. Head always felt pretty much the same, but head never noticed that the social workers had that kind of att.i.tude. Head thought of them as bleeding hearts that pitied the savages because they didnat realize just how dangerous they were. Clearly, he thought wryly, head mistaken their empathya"or at least Phil-a-sheeas.

Or maybe working with them had soured her?

One of the men used the narrow tip of his trida to scribe a line in the dirt. The other followed him, pointing to first one human then another and then the dirt beside the line. aYou! Here. You. Here.a They still looked confused and frightened, but they followed the manas directions.

Gah-re-al studied the line he was forming for a few moments and finally yielded to the urge to interfere. Moving down the line, he studied the faces and sent those that appeared to be most in need of water to the front. When head gone all the way down the line, he walked back to where Lexa was standing, caught her upper arm in one hand and led her to a place near the front, as well.

Phil-a-shee was staring at him disapprovingly when he returned to the supply wagon to oversee the disburs.e.m.e.nt of the water and supplies.

aWeall get to them all. That wasnat necessary.a Gah-re-al gave her a cold look. aSome are stronger than others and fare better, longer without water. Theyare in my charge.a She reddened slightly but merely shrugged and turned her attention to the task at hand. aWeeding out the weak is part of the natural process. We arenat here to make pets of them, but rather to teach them to take care of themselves.a Gah-re-al was certain the comments were directed at him even though she spoke aat largea as if she was instructing her helpers.

Considering Maya had accused him of much the same thing it flickered through his mind to wonder if theyad been communicating.

Which might also account for the cold reception, he supposed wryly, if theyad been comparing notes. aSince I removed them from their habitata"on ordersa"and marched them across a desert poorly supplied and prepared, thatas hardly non-interference, however. They had a water source and food and shelter where they were.a Phil-a-sheeas lips tightened, but she didnat pursue the debate. aDo you plan to accompany us the remainder of the trek?a aSince that was my orders and I havenat received any instructions otherwise, yes.a aWell, unless you have some objection, we should set out, then, as soon as weave finished disbursing the supplies. Theyave had plenty of time to rest and at the rate theyave been moving itall take another weekas march to reach the relocation site.a Theyad made d.a.m.ned good timea"all things considereda"and Gah-re-al knew for a fact that it wouldnat take them more than a couple of days more to reach the drop off point, but he was well aware that his mood was really foul and he didnat think a heated verbal exchange in front of the villagers would go over well once it was reported.

And it would be. One of the things head found least attractive about Phil-a-shee was her problem with her wagging tongue a and her propensity to spy on people so that she had something to wag her tongue about.

It was a d.a.m.ned good thing he only had to get through a couple more days of close proximity to temptation, because head thought it a d.a.m.ned stupid idea to make a try for Lexa before Phil-a-sheeas arrival.

Trying anything now would be professional suicide. Head be busted so far down the ranks for that kind of indiscretion, head end up on a s.h.i.+thole colony worse than this onea"probably one where the life expectancy of a soldier in the ranks was less than a month.

Lexa didnat know why it was that she hadnat been able to convince herself she had no interest in f.u.c.king Gabriel. Beyond the fact that he was so d.a.m.ned certain he was superior to humans and so obviously looked down on them, it shouldnat have even crossed her mind, ever, that she might want him to do that to her. Shead hated every minute of it when Ralph had rutted her. It didnat always hurta"unless he was just trying to hurt her. Sometimes it was just disgusting and uncomfortable, but she would never have imagined that she would ever think that she would want a man to do that to her!

And yet shead been thinking about it ever since shead realized the villagers thought that head claimed her.

Of course Gabriel wasnat a man, but she couldnat imagine that it would be different with him.

Unless, of course, he wasnat like a man there.

Head suggested that they did it pretty much like humans did, though, which also suggested that they were made pretty much the same a there.

Well, she thought, he actually hadnat suggested that. Head told her that he never f.u.c.ked women unless they wanted him to, though, and it seemed to her that he was saying it was the same except, for some reason, women wanted him to.

As bad as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she was dying to find out why women wanted him to. There was just no getting around it. She hadnat been able to forget it even when head told her that it was something she should discuss with the women of his people.

The problem with that was that by the time she got to the place where she might have that opportunity, Gabriel would be gone and it seemed unlikely she would see him again.

She thought that was probably a good thing in a lot of ways. She didnat like being a prisoner even though he hadnat treated any of them badly. She didnat like being told what she could and couldnat do or where to go. She couldnat deny that it was nice to have someone else worry about where she would get food and water for a change, and to produce it when she needed it, but she didnat think she wouldave taken it if shead had a choice.

Shead spent a lot of time being lonely and scared after shead left Ralph, but she supposed shead gotten used to it because she didnat feel like she belonged with the people that had been captured with her.

They didnat think she did either because they shunned her.

Of course, they shunned her because of Gabriel, partly because he was around her too much for their comfort and they were terrified of him and partly because a well, she didnat think shead imagined that they thought she was his woman or at least that head f.u.c.ked her and that was sort of a contamination thing as far as they were concerned. She wasnat fit for human company because shead been f.u.c.ked by an angel-demon.

And they hated the angel-demons as much as they feared them.

Or maybe they hated them because they were afraid of them?

In part, she supposed her inability to forget about f.u.c.king Gabriel was because everybody seemed to think she already had. Shead heard them mutter about it under their breath whenever he wasnat close enough to hear.

She wasnat sure why they thought that, but there didnat seem to be any point in trying to tell them she hadnat. Even if theyad given her the opportunity, which they didnat because theyad already made up their minds, she didnat think they would believe her. Shead arrived in their village at the same time he had and that had settled the matter as far as they were concerned. She was with him therefore she must be f.u.c.king him.

She supposed that ought to have been enough by itself to turn her off the idea of doing it. It was plain to see that she was going to be an outcast forever more if she did, that there would never come a point in time when they finally stopped hating her and thinking of her as an outsider.

On the other hand, she was already an outcast just because they thought she had and there didnat seem to be much point in worrying about their opinion when it was already done and there didnat seem any way to convince them otherwise.

In any case, she hadnat been able to convince herself that it wasnat anything she wanted any part of. In point of fact, it seemed the more she thought about it the more she wanted toa"and the closer they got to their destination and the time when Gabriel would leave, the more desperate she felt.

She decided she just wanted to know if f.u.c.king could be something a woman could like to do. Men certainly seemed to like doing it. She didnat really believe, deep down, that it could possibly be something she would like to do, but the possibility was certainly intriguing since shead been basically running from it for years. If she at least didnat hate it, wasnat it possible, then, that she might find a human man that she didnat hate f.u.c.king and could stay with and breed children?

Or would f.u.c.king Gabriel eliminate that possibility forever because she would then be atainteda and no longer acceptable to human men?

Actually, that thought wasnat particularly unappealing, either. If all she had to do was make sure they knew shead f.u.c.ked one of the angel-demons to discourage them from wanting her, that wouldnat be a bad thing either.

It seemed a good enough reason to approach him and ask him about it, anyway, and it still took all the nerve she could muster to do so. She was running out of time, though. She couldnat afford to be a coward about it.

So she waited until they stopped for the noon rest when Gabriel had settled a little apart from the group as he generally did. She didnat like the fact that that circ.u.mstance made it all the more noticeable when she approached him. At the same time, it made it possible to talk to him without the others hearing, though, and that was highly desirable when she thought there was a really good chance that he would completely reject the idea.

She almost lost her nerve when he looked up at her with those cold blue eyes of his.

aYou wanted something?a That didnat sound very promising! Lexa considered retreating immediately, but she reminded herself that running away wasnat going to get her what she wanted this time.

Besides, her knees went weak. She settled ungracefully to the ground close enough to talk without being overheard and far enough to beat a quick retreat if it p.i.s.sed him off that shead asked.