Forest Whispers (2 page)

“
There isn’t one.”

The computer didn’t respond to that. Either
it was trying to figure out what ‘no computer’ meant, or it was
trying to figure out another solution. “Shall I activate the ship
and execute a fly over to map the area?”

“
Good thinking. Send me the map as
soon as you’ve compiled it.”

A mile and a half into the dense forest, the
narrow track Lana was following forked. One side continued pretty
much as the trail had thus far. The other narrowed to little more
than a foot path. Lana scanned the area, but it was impossible to
pin down a precise reading. Sadin had obviously tried both. She
didn’t want to waste her time on the trail he’d decided to discard
and settled down to wait for the onboard to download a map.

Fifteen minutes passed. Just as she was
beginning to grow impatient, the computer signaled that it was
ready to download a grid image showing a ten mile radius of the
area.

Lana studied it thoughtfully. There were
three dwellings within the area. Two were good sized farms. The
third, accessible along the footpath, was little more than a one
room cabin. Plucking her bottom lip thoughtfully, Lana considered
whether Sadin would have done as she’d done and mapped the area or
used whatever was available.

She had located the ship he’d used to get to
Ata Prime, but it had been hidden, and it seemed most likely that
he’d spent his time hiding the ship, not using it to scout for him,
particularly since he must have known she was right behind him.

“
Give me a comparison between the
mapping you just did and the one previously available.”

The computer promptly overlaid the new map
with the older one. The small cabin was the only structure of the
three that appeared on the old map.

But the narrow track indicated that the
closest of the two farms had some access to inhabited areas—which
most likely meant a family.

“
Give me a twenty five mile radius
scan.”

After studying the wider area for a few
minutes, Lana decided to start down the cart track. Her gut was
telling her Sadin was looking for a kill. If that was the case, it
seemed improbable that he would’ve headed for the small cabin,
which seemed less likely to yield a victim for him.

Having decided on her direction, Lana stowed
her map in her pack and set out once more. The closest farm lay a
good eight miles up the track she was following. The second farm
was approximately twelve miles if she continued to follow the cart
trail, which forked again several miles before it reached the first
farm and veered north. She had time to check the first before dusk,
but even if she cut across through the forest, it seemed unlikely
she’d reach the second before full dark caught her.

She reached her first objective just as the
sun dropped below the tops of the trees and stopped to observe from
a little distance and check the readings on the tracker. The
signature indicated that Sadin had been close, possibly even where
she’d stopped to check the place out. Obviously, he’d decided to
move on, however, and in a few moments, she saw why. The farm
appeared to belong to an older couple with a number of grown, or
nearly grown, children. As she stood watching, two strapping young
men appeared in a distant field, herding some sort of domesticated
animals toward the pasture nearest the main house. An older man and
another young man were working near a barn.

While she stood watching, a woman exited the
house.

She assumed it was a woman. She was draped
from head to foot in some sort of flowing robe and scarves, with
little more than her eyes exposed. She could’ve been young and
beautiful, or ancient. She moved with the ease of youth, however. A
daughter of the house?

Lana decided to approach and see if she
could glean any information from them. It was possible that Sadin
might have waited until the men were away from the house and
snatched one of the women, but she could see no indication of
distress. Surely, regardless of how they treated their women they
would’ve been out looking if one had been taken?

As she neared the house, the men working at
the barn stopped what they were doing and stood watching her. She
stopped a few yards from them and displayed her identification.

“
I am Ranger Lana Eloy of the United
Confederation of Planets’ Intergalactic Rangers. I’m looking for a
man not of Ata Prime. Have any strangers passed this way within the
past several days that you saw?”

The elder of the two men ran a piercing,
unfriendly gaze down her length and up again. “None have passed
this way.”

Lana studied him and finally decided that he
was telling her the truth so far as he knew it. “Perhaps I could
ask some of the others?”

If possible, his demeanor became even more
unwelcoming. “I am master here. Naught happens here that I am
unaware of.”

Lana frowned, but she hadn’t really expected
to gather any information. Finally, she nodded. “This man is fair,
as I am. He is a killer of women. Take care that your women are
guarded. They should not be left alone or allowed to go far from
the house without a man to escort them.”

He grew angry then and made no attempt to
hide it. “The Confederation holds no sway here. I am master.”

Lana’s lips tightened. The only thing she
hated worse than domineering men was stupid domineering men. “That
was not an order, only a warning for the sake of your women’s
safety. He is hunting. If the opportunity arises, make no mistake,
he will take one and you will not see her alive again—or in one
piece.”

Nodding, she turned and strode from the
yard. She doubted seriously that any of the women were in danger.
She couldn’t see much possibility that the women were ever out of
sight of at least one male at all times.

When she’d reached the track again, she
pulled the map from her pack and studied it in the dwindling light.
There was a stream roughly half way between this farm and the next.
It would be too dark soon to be stumbling about in the woods, but
she wasn’t willing to waste the time it would take to follow the
track back to the fork and take the track to the next farm. She
decided to cut through the forest and make camp by the stream for
the night and approach the next farm in the morning.

Chapter Two

He approached from behind her so that the
light from her campfire threw his shadow away from her instead of
allowing it to fall across her. He advanced with stealth, with
hardly a whisper of sound. If she had been sleeping, she would have
been easy prey, but, as a hunter who knew she could become prey at
any moment, she had developed a sixth sense for the furtiveness
itself. The moment the woods around her went quiet, she woke to
full alertness, commanding her body to remain as it was so as not
to alert her stalker.

He stood for long moments, staring down at
her when he’d come to a halt beside her. She breathed easily,
waiting until he squatted beside her. Before he could strike, she
burst into action. Jackknifing upright, she slammed into him. She
followed him as he pitched onto his back, straddling his middle,
her blade against his throat, slamming her knees against his arms
and pressing them into the dirt on either side of him.

There was no tussle for dominance. He gave
up the fight without a struggle. As the adrenaline rush subsided,
Lana saw in the dim light that it was Captain Corin Thantos she had
pinned between her thighs. A mixture of amusement and irritation
surfaced as she watched the surprise in his eyes slowly supplanted
with chagrin. She lifted one arched brow, a feline smile curling
her lips. Very deliberately, she allowed her gaze to move down his
face to his chest. Removing her blade from his throat, she sheathed
it then placed her palms over his bulging pecs, testing the taut
muscles. “Nice.”

Catching his gaze, she moved her hands to
the bulging biceps of his upper arms. “Very nice.” Still gripping
his arms, she leaned forward until they were almost nose to nose.
“I like to break my bulls before I ride them,” she murmured,
feeling a rush of desire replace the murderous impulse of before as
she plucked almost playfully at his lips.

A rush of breath escaped him, as if he’d
been holding it. His taste and scent filled her, igniting the
glowing embers of desire and bringing a flush of sensitivity to her
skin.

Sitting up, she reached behind her, skating
a hand over his hard, flat belly and burrowing her fingers beneath
his cod piece. “What sort of pretty are you hiding here, I wonder?
Something I would like to play with?”

He sat bolt upright as her fingers curled
around his cock. She’d anticipated as much, however, and snatched
her hand free, gripping his arms once more. “What? You don’t want
to play?”

Confusion filled his eyes—as well as desire.
“Why have you followed me, little one? There is danger in this
forest for those who do not know the lands.”

Lana’s lips curled. She’d meant only to
tease him, but the truth was, she was horny as hell. She hadn’t had
a man between her legs in a while and certainly not a specimen as
magnificent as this one. He was a barbarian, of course, and
probably had no idea of how to please her even if he was so
inclined, but she didn’t allow that to dissuade her. She was
perfectly capable of wringing her own pleasure from him. Slipping
her palms up his arms, she looped her arms around his neck,
tightening her hold until her breasts brushed against him with each
heavy breath she drew. “You followed me, big one, but who’s keeping
score?”

Something flickered in his eyes—a touch of
amusement, doubt, desire.

Lana settled more fully against him,
allowing the heat of her cleft to engulf the rigid cock striving to
escape his cod piece. To her satisfaction, the material the cod
piece was formed from was pliable—not nearly as stiff as the dick
pushing up against it.

“
You mean to--ravish me?” he asked in
a deep growl.

Lana gnawed a path of love bites along his
jaw to his ear. “You’re not going to resist, are you?” she asked
huskily, nipping at his earlobe.

His answer was to roll over and toss her
onto her back. He stared down at her a moment, holding himself off
of her with his arms and finally dipped his head, opening his mouth
over hers. He tasted of man and forest, wildness and passion. A
heady rush of molten desire spilled through the throat of Lana’s
sex, the muscles fisting in anticipation. Wrapping her legs around
his waist, she arched upward as she dueled with his tongue,
stroking her tongue along his as she lifted toward him, undulating
her hips and pressing her cleft against his engorged flesh, easing
slightly away and pressing again, in a massaging motion that teased
her clit, evoking tremors of pleasure in her.

Sucking his tongue, she slipped her hands
downward and cupped his buttocks, pressing him more tightly to
her.

Groaning, he tore his mouth from hers and
charted a course down her throat, burying his face in the cleft
between her breasts for a moment before he scooped her breasts from
the neck of her vest and covered first one tip and then the other
with his mouth, suckling, teasing the sensitive tips with his
tongue.

Lana released her grip on his buttocks and
grabbed a handful of his hair, holding him close, moaning at the
exquisite sensations that rocketed through her at the feel of his
mouth and tongue. Abruptly, she reached between them, digging
beneath his cod piece and gripping his cock in her hand as an
urgency filled her to feel his cock plunging inside of her.

He pulled away from her long enough to
release the knot that held the piece in place, tossed it aside and
executed a short search for the fastening of her thigh length
breeches before he gave up and wedged his hand beneath the
waistband, digging his fingers into the wetness of her cleft.

Lana gasped, squeezed her eyes closed as his
questing finger nudged her clit, assaulted the sensitive bud,
sending jolts of keen sensation through her and making her belly
clench in hard spasms. She felt as if she would come any moment and
a sense of desperation seized her. She wanted to feel his hard cock
inside of her when she climaxed, wanted to feel him pounding into
her.

Dragging his hand from her pants, she pulled
the release strip along each side of the front and lifted her hips
to shove the breeches down her legs. He rose up, pulled the
breeches from her legs, and dropped them. Grasping her legs, he
pushed them apart and settled between them, pressing his cock head
against her.

Dizzy, breathless, Lana lifted her hips to
meet him, feeling the blunt head slip along her cleft and wedge
itself into her opening. Heaving upward, she impaled herself on the
rigid shaft, felt the head of his cock inch its way into her wet
passage. He withdrew slightly and plunged against her again,
gaining ground. As he withdrew once more, Lana planted her feet
flat against the ground and heaved upward to meet him.

His cock was so big, so hard, so hot. She
couldn’t get enough fast enough, bucking against him with each
fresh assault until she felt him imbedded to the hilt inside of
her, felt him grinding his pubic bone against her own, and a heady
rush of passion scoured her.

Gasping for breath, groaning with the
delightful friction of his hard cock thrusting in and out of her,
Lana gripped the cheeks of his ass, forcing him into a hard,
furious pace as she felt the tension inside her body tightening
toward an explosive release. He resisted, tried to hold himself in
check, but the pace she set sent him careening out of control.

As she felt his body jerk with imminent
release, she slipped her hand between them and massaged her clit.
Within moments, she felt her body convulse. A jolt hit her and then
another, and then ecstasy exploded in fiery waves throughout her
body. She gripped his buttocks, burying her face against his neck
to muffle the cry of completion that scraped from her throat.