Page 35 of Stealing Mercury
“He’s mated,” said Lo.
Samantha shifted her stance to look for him. She hadn’t even known he’d come into the camp. Some kind of small animal, already skinned, hung in his hand. She didn’t want to think of how he’d caught it. As far as she knew, they’d destroyed all the weapons. However he’d done it, he’d been quick, and he’d gotten back in time to see her exchange with Carn.
Carn, who longed for his mate. She understood the pain of longing. She’d seen a similar pain in her mother’s eyes every time she said goodbye to Samantha’s father. Her mother had loved him more than he deserved, and every parting had broken her heart a little more.
No matter how painful, she didn’t see how it explained Carn’s reaction to her touch, but maybe for them it did.
“Let’s go to the river now.” Mercury’s rough voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “Lo will have the food prepared when we return.”
His catch in hand, Lo stalked toward the neatly laid fire she’d started earlier. “You should wash before the light is gone and the cold returns.”
He’d apparently already taken advantage of the river. His hair glistened wetly and hugged his head. Beads of water still traced down his shoulders to follow the leanly defined curve of his pectorals.
Samantha ducked under the tarp. “Uh, a bath now sounds good. Let me get a change of clothes.” Luckily, the escape-pod supplies had included a couple of one-size fits all tops and bottoms. They’d be big on her, but she’d manage. Unfortunately,alldidn’t include genetically engineered gladiators. Mercury, Lo, and especially Carn were too broad and muscular, so they were out of luck.
The walk to the water didn’t take long, despite the lush vegetation. The pungent mix of foliage and the gentle swish and splash of the briskly flowing river tumbled together to create an exotic oasis like nothing she’d seen before. For some species it would be a paradise and her vow to live in the moment let her bask in its beauty.
Mercury led her to where the river widened and reeds and willowy trees gave way to a grassy verge that led to a shoal, the perfect place to walk out into the current.
Samantha dropped down to the soft grass to pull off her boots and jacket. Mercury didn’t even bother to take off his flex boots before wading out to the center. He only had the clothes he was wearing, and they probably needed a bath as much as he did, but she’d been hoping to get down to her skin.
She eyed Mercury as he dipped below the surface, then popped back up, shaking his head. Even with only his head and shoulders above water, his presence couldn’t be ignored. She’d spent the day wrapped around him and a little turned on by the countless small touches he’d used to ensure her mind was focused on him as they hiked the alien wilderness. The way his hand would slip along her thigh or a finger would stroke along the sensitive bend behind her knee.
Samantha shook away the thoughts, but the lingering heat low across her belly wasn’t so easy to dismiss. Stars, what was wrong with her? She’d never been sex-obsessed nor had she been prudish or shy. She huffed out a breath. Tired of over-thinking it, she pushed back to her feet and stripped down to her under-tank and briefs. Decent enough. She stepped into the cool water and waded out a few feet then moved downstream. She dunked her dirty clothes into the clear water and rubbed them briskly, wishing she’d brought cleanser.
“You’re not bathing.” Mercury had worked his way closer until he stood blocking the setting sun.
She looked up, but his face was shadowed, his body silhouetted against the brighter sky. “In a minute. Wanted to get these clean first so I could put them by the fire tonight to dry. We could be here a while and I only have one set of clothes that fit. The emergency gear is going to be like trying to wear a tent.”
He reached down to her upturned face, still a shadow looming over her, and threaded his fingers through the lock of hair that had been falling into her eyes. He twisted it and smoothed it back from her forehead. “How long do you think it will be before someone comes to look for us?”
“I’m not sure.” His question reminded her that she still had no plan for that eventuality. “I’m more worried about who they’ll be.”
“We’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
She nodded and returned her attention to her washing, glad he wasn’t one to panic or fret. She chuckled under her breath at the thought of a fretting Mercury.
“What makes you laugh,courra?”
She looked up again and her retort caught in her throat. While she’d been lost in her thoughts, he’d moved, letting the sunlight pour over him, and he’d stripped out of his pants. Her mouth went dry as desert sand. She’d gotten used to the men being bare-chested or at least learned not to stare too hard or too long no matter how enjoyable the sight, but Mercury in all his naked glory made her temperature spike. Knowing the bands along her arms would be shimmering with spreading flecks of gold did nothing to ease her discomfort.
She’d known the long, heavy muscles of his thighs were there, of course. His pants were form-fitting and hadn’t really covered much. But bare, those muscles drew her eyes directly to the part of Mercury that was wholly, impressively male.
She was silently thankful for the cool water. If he’d been fully aroused, she might not have been able to recover. Unselfconscious, he squatted down in the water to mimic her washing technique. Now that he wasn’t standing up, the water was deep enough to cover the most distracting parts of his anatomy.
Samantha managed to pull her eyes back to her washing. Mostly.
After a handful of minutes, he stood abruptly. “Enough clothes washing.” He pulled the clothes from Samantha’s hands and strode over to the riverbank to deposit the lumps of cloth and his boots in the grass.
The view of him walking away was no less distracting. Firm muscles worked as he moved, making her think of how he’d feel beneath her calves if she wrapped her legs around him as he lay over her in a sexy reversal of the way he’d carried her that morning.
“Sammie,” she muttered under her breath, “you’ve lost your mind.”
She tried earnestly not to stare as he walked back. He didn’t stop, only took her hand as he went past and led her into the deeper water.
Mercury turned her away from him and urged her to lean back. “You still have blood in your hair,” he explained as he worked the water through the strands and gently rubbed her scalp. Samantha closed her eyes and let the gentle strength of his touch wash over her as the cool water moved around her in a wet caress.
His hands slid to her shoulders, stroked down her arms, and brushed along her ribs. When she could no longer feel his hands, she straightened and turned. He was as still as a boulder in the current. She let her gaze take in the tense muscles of his shoulders and the bob of his Adam’s apple. He looked at her like the parched earth watched the rain cloud on the horizon, as if he could soak her in and have his thirst quenched.
