Hearts of Ishira (Hearts of Ishira Saga) (15 page)

“Good gods,” Jace breathed, his heated eyes meeting his brother’s before locking on hers. “Are all humans this sensitive? This responsive?”

“I don’t know!” Ri practically wailed, her face ten shades of red. “Please… are we about done here?”

“Just about,” Jace told her. Nodding to Hunter to hold her steady, Jace took the shower wand and rinsed her just as thoroughly as he’d washed her. The water jets must have hit other sensitive spots, because her hips moved and she gasped a number of times before the men were certain that she was as clean as they could possibly get her. When Jace ran the scanner over her, front and back, she was clean of the mites.

It was a weak, shaky, very confused and sexually frustrated Ri that settled back into her bed a short time later. Too weak to stand at that point, the warriors had steadied her between them then gently, carefully rubbed her down with warm towels. Hunter carried her back to her bed where he once again held her breasts while Jace wrapped her ribs. A medic brought them a clean medical gown. They dressed her and tucked her beneath a fresh set of warmed sheets. Then the men disappeared into the shower room to dress themselves.

She noticed that while she and the other girls had been cleansed, the sheets had been replaced. She shuddered at the thought of tiny, alien insects all over her. Then she shuddered again, thinking of the incredibly erotic way the Commander and his second-in-command had bathed her. Holy crap! That had to have been the most sexually charged bath she’d ever experienced, and she’d actually had sex in the shower a number of times. Her breath shivered out at the memory. The mites had almost been worth it. Almost.

The med center calmed down quite a bit after the girls were bathed and all bedding had been cleared of mites. Hunter and Jace worked together to sterilize and refill syringes with adrenaline, just in case something else came up. Exhausted, Ri drifted in and out of a cat nap until Hunter came over to check on her.

“Can you sit up for a few minutes?” he asked quietly. Ri blinked a few times and nodded. He helped her to sit, then turned her slightly so that her back was to him.

“What are you doing?” she asked. Hunter’s hand came into her line of vision, his palm up, showing her the leather thongs and the thickly bristled brush. “You’re going to fix my hair?”

“You sound surprised,” he chuckled. “Do your men not tend to their lady’s hair on your world?”

“Well, no,” she sighed. “Most of the men that do hair have boyfriends already.”

Hunter laughed at that.

“Because we keep our hair long, we learn from a very early age how to take care of not just our own, but other people’s. You never know when you will need to help a friend, tend to the sick, or woo a woman.”

“You woo with hair?” Ri grinned, turning slightly so that she could look at him. He turned her head back to the front, but she’d seen his wicked grin.

“I will not do so at the moment,” he murmured, close to her ear, “As you are not currently in any condition to truly enjoy it, but yes… brushing hair can be quite erotic. I will perhaps show you, one day.”

Ri shivered at the thought. Behind her, Hunter’s grin turned hot.

For long moments, he worked in silence, quickly and carefully working the snags and snarls from her hair, from the bottom up. When it lay in damp, curling waves down her back, Hunter sighed inwardly. It hung all the way to her hips, the very tips of the strands brushing the bed. He wanted to sink his fingers into it, sift the strands through his hands, feel the silkiness against his face.

“Hunter,” Arianna breathed. He started. “Um… I thought you were going to save the erotic part for later?”

“I apologize, little warrior,” he said softly, his hands going back to simply brushing, then quickly braiding her hair into one long rope down her back. “I did not mean to project those thoughts. I am not used to having someone around that is able to read them.”

“It’s okay,” she said, her voice soft and a little husky. “I just… I’m not sure I can sit up much longer.”

“I am finished.” He helped her to sit back and even changed out her pillow for one that was not damp from her hair. When she was settled, he sat on the edge of her bed.

“Are you all right, little one?” he asked, his voice much more possessive and tender than it probably ought to be after only a few hours of knowing her. But it felt right to her, to not only hear those things in his voice, but to see it in his eyes, on his face, feel it in his touch. They may only have met a few hours before, but she felt like she had been meant for him, had only been waiting for this day, these circumstances, to meet him.

“I’m fine,” she sighed, shyly not meeting his eyes. “A bit embarrassed, but other than that…”

“Why would you be embarrassed?” Hunter asked, sounding a little amused. She glared up at him through damp bangs. She thought about trying to avoid the topic, but she had a feeling that Hunter was a straight-forward sort of man, and that he wouldn’t let her get away with that.

“Because you have seen me naked more today than my doctor back home has in my entire life,” she told him, then rolled her eyes. “And because… well, you um… you got me all excited. I know it’s not your fault, that you didn’t mean to. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. And I know I’m chubby, but did it really take two of you to give me a bath?”

“Actually, it did,” Jace said, surprising her by coming up on her other side, adjusting the IV meds going into her arm, then grinning down at her a lot more possessively and a lot less professionally than before. “I honestly needed you standing up for the final rinse, no matter what, and with your leg unable to hold you, not to mention the danger of another allergic reaction, I wanted to be sure you’d be safe. All of the girls ended up with at least two, possibly three warriors seeing to their cleansing. I’m sure you will get an earful about that. Some of the women were, apparently, a bit… prudish about the whole thing. Rather silly, if you ask me.” He scowled down at her. “What kind of culture do you come from, where nudity is so frowned upon that you feel ashamed even when it is medically necessary?”

“You don’t want to know,” Ri muttered. Hunter’s hand closed on hers as she looked down at her lap, absently picking at a woolly pill on the blanket.

“I do want to know,” Hunter told her quietly. When she threw him a startled glance, he smiled warmly. “I want to know everything about your world, your culture, your belief system, your society and laws and spirituality. I want to know why you are ashamed of your body’s reaction to being touched, when you were obviously enjoying the moment as much as we were, and I want to know why you feel you should be even more ashamed that you like both Jace’s and my touch. What is wrong with desiring two people?”

Jace tossed his commander a warning glare, but then shrugged and watched Ri, eager to hear her answer.

Her response was to toss the blanket over her head and moan in mortification, telling them to go away and leave her alone. Their smug, masculine chuckles seemed to fill the room.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Later that evening, Arianna ate a very strange but tasty meal that consisted of teal-colored leafy salad-like stuff, various items she thought might be fruits and vegetables, and a wonderfully sweet juice that tasted a bit like a cross between apples and muscadine wine and gave her a bit of a light head for about twenty minutes.

She was awake and much more alert when Hunter, his officers, and Bev filed into the medical center, along with a very confused-looking Chelsea. Chelsea and Bev immediately moved to her side, the taller African-American woman grasping Ri’s hand for comfort. Arianna, stunned but heartened by the gesture, clasped Chelsea’s hand and made room for her on the wide bed. She couldn’t help but notice how often the second lieutenant, Trey, cut his eyes toward Bev, or that the pretty little blond didn’t seem to be able to keep her eyes off of him, either.

“We brought Bev and Chelsea so that you would have other representatives of your group,” Hunter informed Arianna once they were all seated around Ri’s bed. “If you would translate for Chelsea that would be nice. Do you mind if we consider Bev your second-in-command, at least for now, and Chelsea your third?”

“Commander,” she sighed, shaking her head at Hunter, “This isn’t necessary. I’m not their leader, so I don’t need a second and third.”

“Hunter, please,” he told her, the side of his mouth kicking up in amusement. “There’s no need for formality between Commanders, which is what you are, as well.” At her blank look, he went on. “You are a Reader. Remember that I told you that all Readers are Commanders? You are in our society, and for now, your people will need to abide by our rules, so you will keep the rank of Commander for as long as you are among the Thorsani. It is our way. Bev has a touch of Reader abilities, but not full, so she will make a fine second in command. Chelsea proved herself capable of keeping a cool head under duress, so I thought she would be good as your second lieutenant. From what I’ve been told, Kim is a knowledgeable medic and was very helpful in the forest and with triage here, as Jace worked to adjust our scanners and chemistry to human physiology, so we will consider her your chief medical officer, though she will not gain the title of Master until such time as she has earned it.”

From the chair Jax had brought her, Kim gaped when Arianna translated all that for the two women without translating devices. Jax grinned at Kim, winking.

“They want me to be what?” Bev squeaked. “I mean, I guess I can see why they’d think you were our leader, with the psychic stuff and everything, but why would they think I was your second?”

Arianna translated. Hunter grinned at Bev’s endearing reaction.

“Tell her it is because she is the least offended by our alieness, and the second most eager to explore this world we find ourselves currently sharing. She and Chelsea also seemed to be the only ones helping you, their natural leader, when necessary. And you would have been proud to see how Bev took charge down in the hall, once she was able, and got the girls through the ‘ordeal’ of being bathed.”

Arianna, catching his amusement, smiled and relaxed a bit, passing his reasoning on to Bev. The blonde’s cheeks flamed scarlet and she threw a disgruntled look toward Trey, who grinned at her in response. Ri sensed the attraction for the little blond that the handsome warrior was making no effort at all to conceal, and decided by Bev’s reaction that the little blond wasn’t exactly immune to his charms, either. Ri had a feeling that Bev’s bath had been just as interesting as her own. That made her blush all over again, which had the effect of making Hunter’s eyes snap to hers and heat with the shared erotic memory. His sexy grin almost tore a frustrated groan from her throat. Determined to be professional about this meeting, Ri cleared her throat, narrowed her eyes at Hunter in warning, then squared her shoulders and mentally got herself into a place that didn’t involve sexy alien warriors and their interesting way of bathing women.

Settling into her role as SIC, Bev sat back, her eyes lighting with pleasure but also growing serious with her newfound responsibility. Ri sighed inwardly with relief, happy that the young woman understood that this was not something to be taken lightly. She knew that Bev truly seemed to get
that they were on a new world, among new beings, and that this was no dream or some weird version of one of those survival shows. That alone put her well ahead of most of the other girls, when it came to assigning responsibility of any kind.

Hunter stood up, drawing all of their eyes. His men instantly fell silent.

“First of all,” Hunter said, calling attention to the start of the informal meeting. He addressed Ri and Bev directly. “I wanted to formally introduce you to everyone here. Commander Arianna, I believe you already know First Lieutenant Jace, our chief medical officer. Medic Jax is his second in command.” He nodded toward the medic she already knew, who saluted and went back to scrolling through the charts he was trying to organize on his scanner. Hunter then called Trey’s name, who nodded respectfully.

“Second Lieutenant Trey is head of computer systems and in charge of the command center. If either Jace or I are unavailable, you can be sure that Trey is ready to serve.”

Ri nodded, translating for the other girls as Hunter spoke. He indicated the next man, a tall, olive-skinned blond.

“Lieutenant Mors is head of security and combat training. Any security issue or fear, take it to him. If you have women who would like to be considered for guard duty, send them his way, so he will know to schedule them, instead of the men, to watch over your ladies.” Ri was surprised by this, but silently thanked Hunter for the measure to include the girls in the duty roster so early. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with all of the officers, so you will meet the others as the need arises and circumstances permit.”

Ri nodded her understanding as she translated and Hunter moved on. “My Thorsani officers, this is Commander Arianna, her second in command Bev, and second lieutenant Chelsea, and over with Jax is their chief medical officer, Kim. From this point until such time as we decide to alter their rankings, please afford them the same respect and privileges that you would our own command chain.”

The men nodded and Ri got the distinct feeling that Hunter had told them that more for the ladies’ benefit than the men’s. His men knew what they were doing. But by making it an order, he had just given the women insight into the kind of behavior they should expect from his men. Ri sent him a mental thanks for that consideration, wondering if he’d had psychological training for leadership, as well. Hunter nodded almost imperceptibly at her, then went on with the meeting.