Chapter Eleven
Connor did his best to convince himself and anyone who happened to be watching for his reaction--which he was certain was pretty fucking much every-damned-body--that he wasn’t more pissed off than he’d ever been in his life.
Trust the little snot to dash down to the med center the moment she was convinced a hunter had her in his crosshairs and put herself on the donor list, god damn it!
Worse to his mind, he would’ve liked to think that it was just him that had her all stirred up. At least then he could congratulate himself that she’d noticed him, felt something. But he thought it wouldn’t be in his best interests to dismiss the freaky aliens.
They were clearly still in the running--in a big way, he was afraid, because she’d let them corral her and sat with them at the cookout.
He also couldn’t convince himself that they didn’t have a clue of what the monitor was about.
They might not be familiar with the process.
They might not have a firm grasp on English.
But he suspected from the way they kept glancing at the monitor that they had a fair idea of what it portended.
Maybe, maybe not.
And maybe they were trying to figure out a way to plant their seed before she had her garden planted and decided she didn’t need anyone.
But he had access to the ship’s records--everything--including the med center’s files.
And he was planning on hand delivering his donation, by god!
Since she’d so helpfully gone for a monitor so that he could pinpoint the timing.
All he had to do was to figure out a time, a place, and the right situation and that egg was his by god!
Then he’d have squatter’s rights, damn it!
And he already, mostly, had that plotted.
* * * *
Belle managed to block out the ick factor about hunting, mostly, by the time they made their kill the following day and was able not only to recall what she’d picked up the day before that she didn’t even realize she’d learned, but also to learn more.
She still didn’t get the chance to apply what she thought she’d learned, but she watched everything the skilled hunters--Ryne and Torr--did very carefully for when she did get the chance or when she had to at some point.
And it seemed likely they would have to.
They still had the shuttles, so they could go up to the ship in orbit and print meat. And the garden was still producing and being tended by the rotating skeleton crew they kept on duty.
But the shuttles used fuel and they weren’t producing any.
In fact, they hadn’t gotten any of the machines they needed up and running--including the power station. And modern technology didn’t run on air.
So, sooner or later, they were going to have to hunt.
If nothing else, their supply of protein cultures would run out.
So hunting skills were must have.
And the Izun were going to teach them how to find plant edibles, too--gathering.
Cultivation was the way to go, of course, but it couldn’t hurt to have a backup plan.
Food security was the difference between life or death.
* * * *
Belle was allowed to use her hunting rifle when her ‘number’ came up at long last--thankfully, because she didn’t think she could have hit anything as big as the shuttle with an arrow or spear.
Not that she was against trying to learn the skill to use them, but she was pretty sure it took more strength than she had.
And she had actually developed some skill with the rifle.
She found a good spot and settled to wait.
They’d found tracks that indicated a fairly large beast--something big enough to supply enough meat for everyone for at least one meal, she thought.
She was nervous and excited, but she focused on calming herself with the breathing, shutting out peripheral sounds.
And then she saw it actually was one of the beasts that made those particular tracks--a very large and dangerous thing.
She had to focus on not seeing it as a living thing, but as food, she reminded herself. It was part of the food chain--just as they were. They needed meat.
She picked a spot as her target where she could kill it quickly, focused intently on that one spot and watched until it moved within range of the gun, in a position that would make it possible to kill--not wound.
It almost dropped before her brain caught up with the movement of her hand.
In point of fact, she thought for a few moments that it wasn’t her shot that had found the mark at all.
But then the men let out a whoop, leapt from hiding and raced to the beast.
Feeling a mixture of sadness for the animal and excitement to know she’d brought down food to feed everyone, she surged up from her spot and followed the others.
Dropping to her knees beside it, she pulled her dagger out and cut it exactly as she’d been shown--not allowing herself to see beyond the task, or think beyond it.
It was harder than she’d thought it must be, took more strength.
She had to use both hands and strain, but she made the cuts. She removed the organs, careful not to contaminate the meat by puncturing the intestines. When she’d finished, she began cutting the quarters to make carrying it easier.
She was exhausted by the time she’d finished, and covered in disgusting gunk, but she sat back and looked up at Connor and Ryne and Torr in search of approval.
Connor had the strangest expression on his face when he met her gaze. She couldn’t quite decide what was behind it, but it seemed a faint smile softened his hard mouth and it made her smile. It made warmth rise up inside of her and happiness.
Ryne and Torr seemed more stunned than anything else and that made the happiness bottom out. “I … didn’t do it right? Did I forget something important?” she asked, dividing an anxious glance between them.
Something flickered in Ryne’s eyes and then she saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “Did perfic,” he said. “You do dis before?”
She chuckled with relief then and glanced around at the other hunters. “No, but I watched everybody else very closely.”
The rest of the group surged closer to gather up their haul, stuffed the meat into the bags they’d brought to carry it, and then all of them headed back.
Belle was pleased and happy all the way back, right up until they reached the gates and Leanne sent her a tight look. “Show off,” she muttered. “I don’t know why you’re so pleased with yourself. You’re disgusting. You look like a … savage.”
Belle stared at her retreating back for several moments when she turned and stalked off and then glanced at the guys uncomfortably. “I’m a mess. I guess I should go bathe,” she muttered, pushed through the gate, and headed towards the showers just shy of a run.
Ryne and Torr frowned angrily at the female, uncertain of what she had said to Belle but very certain that it was something ugly because it had wiped away Belle’s happiness as quickly as she’d spoken.
Ryne glanced at Connor, angry enough he dismissed his reluctance to demand answers from the bastard. “What she did? Dat female?”
Connor’s lips tightened with his own anger. “I didn’t catch it. Said something nasty, I’m sure.”
Ryne mulled that over. It wasn’t the first time he had seen something similar. They would throw words at her that hurt her--for no reason that he could see.
He’d thought that it was their fault, that it was because they wanted Belle and the others didn’t want them around because they were not the same.
But he had come to think that was only part of it if it had anything at all to do with the behavior of the others.
“Why dey mean her? She sweet. She smart. She beautiful. She no talk mean tings to udders.”
Connor felt his chest tighten with a mixture of possessiveness and empathy for Belle’s confusion, and then anger because the bitch had wounded her for no reason at all. Belle was all of those things Ryne had said and a lot more.
That was why he loved her.
He didn’t know when he had begun to, but …. He realized he didn’t actually remember when he didn’t.
He didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to him that the natives would see everything that he had seen and would want her just as he did, but he hadn’t. He had dismissed their fascination with her as nothing but lust--something that would pass fairly quickly if she didn’t return their interest.
“She’s …. She isn’t just smart. She’s a genius.
She is the most intelligent person in the colony group.
By far. There probably aren’t more than a handful her equal in existence even on the home world.
But as wonderful a gift as that is, that makes her different, and that difference makes the others resent her.
It’s a human thing, I guess. They feel hostility toward anyone that’s different.
And Annabelle has no grasp of social skills …
no idea of how to fit in. She wants to. She just can’t. ”
Ryne frowned, turning that over in his mind. “She no fit here? No because we different?”
“That sure as fuck doesn’t help,” Connor said tightly. Not that he could tell it had made a lot of difference, but … it didn’t help.
Torr and Ryne glared at him but, in a moment, they turned, took a running jump and leapt into the air, struggled a few moments to capture air lift, and headed back toward the river to bathe.
“Bastards,” Connor muttered dismissively, turning to watch Belle, wondering if there was anything he could say or do to soothe her.
He knew what he wanted to do to soothe her.
It would soothe him, too, he thought wryly.
And that was why it was probably the worst idea he’d had in a while.
It still took an effort to dismiss the fantasy dancing in his head … of striding into the shower room and … nope. Bad idea.
He was going to have to tame his beast or he would scare her half to death. She’d been hurt so badly by those fucking bastards …. If he wasn’t careful of her ….
The bastards were damned lucky he hadn’t been in charge back then … when they’d attacked her. He would’ve blown the fuckers out the airlock.
Instead, he’d beat them within an inch of their lives and then spent six months in the brig.
Time well spent … Just not soon enough to make a difference to Belle.
Even if it had made him half insane to be trapped there while Belle was convalescing--when it had been touch and go for a while that his little Annabelle even would recover.
* * * *
Torr glanced at Ryne thoughtfully a couple of times when they’d finished bathing in the river and climbed out, and then settled by a tree to dry before they put their clothes on again.
“She isn’t welcome to her own people,” he said finally.
“Why would she want to stay, do you think? I thought it was only because she did not want us.”
Ryne gave him a look. “I am not convinced she does not want us,” he said tightly.
“In fact I believe that she is interested.
She kissed me back with … warmth. We have nothing to offer, however.
I am fairly certain she understands that …
or at least suspects. And as bad as their camp is, they still have more comforts that we have to offer.
“Women are fragile. They need comforts to survive.
“This is a stupid thing that we have here,” he muttered. “Wise men would have been preparing for a mate. And then we would have had something to show her. Even if it was very little and in need of more work.
“I do not see how we could break off the courtship, though, to attend that now. That yellow haired bastard is just waiting to snatch her up!”
Torr shrugged. “I was focused on trying to fill my belly,” he groused.
“I do not see that we could have spared much time even to attempt to prepare or that we should feel particularly stupid that we did not consider a future with a padra when there was no hope of finding one. Or at least little to none.”
“Well! I do not want ‘a’ padra, by the gods! I want Belle! And I am more anxious to take her as soon as possible when her own people are unkind to her.”
Torr hesitated to throw out anything negative, but there was no point in trying to ignore the thing.
“She is not indifferent to him,” he said finally.
“I thought she was very impressed with your mating kiss, but I could not help but notice that she was also impressed with the yellow hair’s kiss, as well. ”
Ryne glared at him. “I had only just kissed her! That was not for him.”
Torr studied him for a long moment, but what was the point in prodding Ryne to beat the fuck out of him for disagreeing when the fact was that neither of them actually knew the truth of it?
“Good point,” he agreed non-committally.
“I think, since it does not look as though we will have another war, that it would be safe to look around for something temporary of comfort that we could show her. And then we could explain that it is only until we find a better place and build a new, very grand home for her and our babies.”
Ryne frowned thoughtfully. “That is not a bad idea. And it will be even better if I could persuade her to allow me to breed her while we were about it. I am certain that she is nearing her time or she would not have responded to the yellow haired bastard’s kiss directly after she had reacted positively to mine.
And then, when I have bred her, she will be more inclined to accept us, I believe.
I know we could not entirely count upon it, but I have understood that women are inclined to bond with a male when they are carrying the male’s seed.
“I think it will not be easy to separate her from the yellow hair long enough to convince her, though. And it will not be as effective if she is not in her time and I cannot get a babe on her.
“We must give some thought to how we can get her away at the perfect time and place for it.”