The Marine's Queen (16 page)

She rolled with him, throwing one leg over his and curling into his side. Her unbound hair feathered across his shoulder and neck as she snuggled her head on his shoulder and stretched her arm across his chest.

He froze for a moment and then wrapped his arm around her to pull her even closer. He’d never held a woman in such a way, but it felt so natural.

She sighed and relaxed softly against him.

It was nice.

Her fingers traced a small pattern on his chest. “I’m cold.”

He used his foot to pull the blankets within reach of his hand, afraid if he sat up to get them she might move. He smoothed them over her shoulder, tucking in the top.

Callie’s bare breast pressed against his side, but his body didn’t respond with renewed arousal. Instead, sleepy contentment spread through him.

“
Joe?”

He woke with a start. He’d drifted off.

“
I’m the queen of my people, their leader.”

He could tell by her tone she was going to confuse him with something.

“
You’re the leader of the marines.”

His dread grew.

“
If we’re going to survive here, you and I need to work together.” She lifted her head and looked at him.

“
Work together?” The shadows hiding her breasts from him drew his gaze.

“
Share the problems and work them out. I don’t think you lied to me this morning, but you’re worried about our defenses.” She dropped her head to his shoulder again, blocking his view of her chest.

A few wisps of her hair teased his nose and mouth. He turned his head and buried his face gently into the thick mass.

“
Joe, are you listening to me? That’s how couples work. They help each other solve difficulties.”

She wasn’t ordering him to tell her. It seemed important to her but very strange to him.

“
We can hold off the rodents if they come again.” Joe thought of the old style mines and explosives he and Vin had prepared all day.

“
Without any of you dying to do it?”

“
I believe so. Tar shouldn’t have died. I think he tried to slow them down because of you and the other women.” Speaking his suspicions to her released something inside of him. It felt like a stone had been lifted off his chest.

“
You mean he wouldn’t have tried to stop them if only you and your men were here?”

“
He would have killed as many as he could from a safe place, knowing we could get out of the way and save ourselves.”

She was silent for a moment, and a hot tear dripped onto his bare chest.

The uplifting power of the salty droplet surged through him. His muscles jerked, and his satiated staff stiffened into a painfully blissful erection.

“
What else?”

Joe fought his lust and turned his mind back to the conversation. He ran his hand up and down her spine. She seemed so fragile, but she was tough and strong. “We’re almost out of ammunition for our recon-issued weapons. If your ship’s beacon draws pirates instead of rescuers, we might not be able to hold them off.”

Her hand moved in a wider pattern on his chest, drifting down to his waist and along his sides. “Do you think we should disable the signal?”

“
If you do, there’s almost no chance of rescue. If you don’t you’ll be taking the gamble of who hears it first.” He couldn’t make that decision for her.

“
But what would you do, Joe? I need you opinion.”

He wanted to tell her to turn it off and stay here with him, but he’d been trained to make logical evaluations of situations without the influence of wants or needs. “You owe it to your people to try and return to them.”

“
I know,” she whispered. Her meandering hand swept lower and brushed his erection. She took him in her hand and turned her head to kiss his chest at the same time. “We better sleep on it.”

She rose up to her knees and threw the blankets back to the foot of the bed. She lifted one leg over his hips and guided his penis to her entrance.

Joe had been grateful for his exceptional vision lots of times, but never as much as he was at this moment. He held his breath as she lowered herself onto his erection.

The position was new, but the results were not.

* * * *

Work-filled days and blissful nights passed while Callie pondered the future. Five days had passed since she’d first invited Joe to her bed. At night, she thought only of him and his lovemaking. During the day, she thought of the distress beacon and the decision to leave it on or turn it off. If she wasn’t Queen of Giroux, her decision would have been easy.

Glory laughed as her mother pushed her higher in the swing one of the marines had hung from a tree for her. Little Sally bounced in her own hanging seat. Riba smiled as she turned the loom Acacia and Mak had designed and built. The flax came from a native plant growing abundantly around the oasis. They really had everything they needed at the waterhole.

Yalo laughed, drawing Callie’s attention. Her guard had blossomed into a lovely woman under the hot sun of their exile. Vin smiled at her, trying to show her the correct way to load the new projectile weapons. Each of the women took turns learning how to use the guns.

Joe and Kam worked on reinforcing the roof of the newest building. The marines had decided to make the doctor’s home their place of last defense. Both men had shed their shirts. Sweat gleamed on their smooth, hairless chest and muscular backs.

Yes, Callie thought, they had everything they needed to live here forever. But what was happening on Giroux in her absence? Had Dania Cresbol, her minister of diplomacy, taken over the reins of rule? Did Geoff Hadrason still hope to find her and force her hand into marriage?

How would Giroux fare if she never returned? Hadrason Mining would move in if the Galactic Council no longer protected Giroux because they needed her elixir. She still didn’t understand why Hadrason wanted her little planet so much. Was there a reason beyond controlling the elixir trade?

Callie knew she had to return, had to risk the pirates.

“
Higher, momma!” Glory shouted.

Callie smiled at them, but grim thoughts of what pirates might do to her women and the little girls clouded her enjoyment.

“
Wait until you taste what I found for dinner tonight,” Acacia said as she joined Callie in rolling the flax into loose balls. The science advisor’s enthusiasm continued unabated since they’d crashed. All the new plants and animals intrigued Acacia endlessly.

“
I can’t imagine,” Callie said.

“
Mak showed me this fruit tree he’d discovered. Webb tested it for toxins. I removed the seeds and baked it with some applenut syrup.” Acacia went on for a while, describing the ingredients she’d used for her latest creation.

“
Do you like it here, Acacia?”

Acacia looked around, frowning and thoughtful. “At first, I just tried to make the best of it, and there were lots of interesting things to study.”

“
And now?”

Acacia smiled. “I’m happy. Every day is hard work, and I know danger waits around every corner. But I wake up every morning filled with anticipation.”

“
How much does Mak have to do with that? I didn’t mean….”

“
I know you didn’t. I’m afraid Mak has everything to do with it. I’ve been exploring new ecosystems and alien life forms all my adult life. It’s never been this much fun.”

Acacia excused herself to check her baking. The newly installed solar panels provided more than enough power to cook with, heat all the buildings at night and cool them during the day. The buildings, while small, were as comfortable as any Callie had ever occupied.

Glory howled with laughter. Roz stood in front of her, letting her tiny feet hit him in the chest every time she swung forward. He fell backward with comic clumsiness each time she touched him. Callie wondered if it was the first time Roz had played at anything.

Callie would tell Joe tonight that they must leave the beacon. She had to return to Giroux, but she intended to give him some conditions. She would order him if she had to though she had no idea if that would work. The marines must leave with the women. She couldn’t live the rest of her life knowing they were here and alone.

* * * *

Joe noticed Callie’s anxiety as they finished up the evening meal. Perhaps she would want to share her problems with him tonight. A residual warmth lingered from the previous night. Could two people actually be closer when talking than when joined in the sexual act?

“
My queen,” Yalo said, using the formal title the women seldom used to address Callie. “We have a request to put forth.”

“
More of an idea we wanted to discuss.” Riba looked around at the other women as if seeking their support.

The marines looked to Joe, the tension in the room now obvious. How long until he began to understand females? His men fared little better than him. He didn’t like what he saw in their eyes. Confusion, he understood, but he didn’t like the other emotion. Fear.

“
What is it?” Callie sounded puzzled also, and that eased Joe’s mind a bit.

“
It appears we’ll be here a while,” Yalo said.

Riba nodded. “We’ve build homes and started new lives.”

“
We have a chance to build our society, but we’re missing some things.” Grace pulled Glory close to her side. “We think it’s time to stop living like this is temporary.”

“
You’re right, of course.” Callie glanced at Joe. “You realize we must leave if the opportunity presents itself.”

“
In the meantime, we need to go on as if this is all we’ll have.” Grace’s voice took on a stubborn tone. “We want to have marriage ceremonies.”

Webb broke into a big grin, but he ducked his head to hide it. The other marines looked as stunned as Joe felt.

“
Marriage,” Callie repeated, not with any surprise.

“
Despite our circumstances,” Riba said, “we need to follow the moral codes of our culture. The Spirit Father wouldn’t want us to live as we have been without his blessing.”

“
Who is this Spirit Father?” Kam asked.

Webb answered, still wearing a smug grim. “I believe Unon, the God you know of, is the same as their Spirit Father. Many worlds have different names for the one God.”

“
This is not a decision for me alone to make,” Callie said. “Have any of you asked your housemates if they agreed with you?”

Faces heated all around as the women gave negative shakes of their heads.

Callie raised an eyebrow. “May I suggest that we all retire for the night and discuss this with the involved parties? In the morning we can rejoin and perhaps the doctor can conduct a ceremony for those who wish it.”

“
Sir?” Vin asked.

Joe’s mind raced. Did words spoken by the doctor change anything? His men would be doing nothing different. He thought of the fear he’d seen in his men’s eyes. He understood what caused it because he felt it himself. Binding words might ease that unacceptable emotion. “Each man should make up his own mind.”

The others filed out in silence until only Joe and Callie remained. They cleared the table, working together as if they’d done it hundreds of times.

Callie turned to him as she put away the last bowl. “Well, Joe, with no family name, if we get married will you take my last name as your own?”

* * * *

Callie loved it when her questions left Joe speechless. Despite the lethality of his profession, he was such an innocent at times. Sometimes Callie thought he’d been the virgin five nights ago instead of her.

“
You want to do this?”

“
We’re the chiefs of our little tribe here, and it’s important we present a united leadership to our people.”