Abiogenesis (17 page)

The gravity was noticeably different.

It was a smaller world than Earth then, almost certainly, but not much. Or, perhaps, the planet spun more slowly? Or the sun that warmed it was more distant?

When the whine of decelerating engines filled her ears, she opened her eyes. Around her, she saw the other women perched on the edges of their cots, staring hopefully at the door to their compartment.

They were excited, but afraid to show it. She felt the same.

She hoped they weren’t all going to be disappointed.

A sudden jolt announced their arrival. As abruptly as it had begun, the noise of deceleration ceased. The silence was nearly deafening.

Too nervous to stay still any longer, Dalia struggled off of her cot and began pacing the compartment, listening to the sounds of doors banging open and closed around the ship. Finally, she heard the tramp of approaching footsteps and the door to the compartment swung open. Everyone simply stared at the cyborg standing in the entrance, wanting desperately to stampede the door and afraid if they did he’d slam it shut again.

He motioned for them to follow him. Exchanging glances, they surged to their feet almost as one and moved quickly toward the door. Dalia, the only one already on her feet, was the last to reach it. When she stepped into the corridor, she saw it was crowded as the men disgorged from the compartment before theirs into the corridor. In front of her, she caught a glimpse of Pierce’s blond hair as he stepped through the door to the men’s compartment.

He glanced in her direction, surveyed the females passing closest and finally plastered himself against the bulkhead, allowing everyone to surge around him as he searched for her. Relief and pleasure washed through her. In the next moment, however, she caught a glimpse of Reuel, standing by the gangway. Unnerved, she ducked her head down as he glanced over the heads of those shuffling toward the door. A sense of panic rushed through her.

She wondered if he was looking for her, and if so, why?

It occurred to her that he might not be, that he might merely be watching to make certain everyone disembarked in an orderly fashion, but it didn’t matter. Even if he wasn’t looking for her in particular, she would have to pass by him unless he disembarked before she made her way to the door.

When she reached Pierce, she met his easy grin with a look of panic. "I think Reuel may be looking for me," she whispered.

Pierce frowned, glancing quickly around the crowded corridor. Nodding finally, he grasped her hand and allowed her to trail slightly behind and to one side of him. Relieved when she saw that Pierce almost completely blocked her view of everyone around them and assuming the same was true from Reuel’s viewpoint, Dalia did her best not to attract attention by appearing conspicuous.

She’d almost made it through the door and onto the gangplank, when a hand clamped onto her tunic, pulling her to a stop. She glanced around, knowing even before she saw him that it was Reuel. He glanced from her startled face to Pierce’s, his expression hardening. "We have ... matters to settle between us," he said.

It was apparent she wasn’t going to be able to avoid the confrontation she’d been dreading. Finally, she nodded and tugged at her hand until Pierce reluctantly released her. "I’ll meet you later," she said to Pierce, smiling up at him to allow him to know she was all right with staying.

He searched her gaze and finally lifted his head and looked directly at Reuel. "I’ll wait."

"You won’t," Reuel said grimly.

Dalia glanced from one man to the other nervously. "It’s all right, Pierce. Really. I need to talk to him about ... about his baby."

The comment brought two piercing gazes upon her. She glanced from one man to the other, feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach when she saw that both were incensed. Finally, Pierce nodded and strode down the gangplank. Dalia followed his angry departure with her gaze, glancing blindly at the scene of chaos below as the passengers and crew of the ship collided with the cyborgs that had come to welcome the ship, and finally, reluctantly, turned to Reuel.

"Who is he?" Reuel demanded tightly.

Dalia tilted her head to one side, studying him. "A dear friend," she finally said.

Something flickered in his eyes. He lifted his head, watching Pierce until he disappeared into the crowd below.

Dalia didn’t really like the look on his face, or the way he watched Pierce. A shiver skated along her spine. "What do you mean to do with me?"

As she’d hoped, the question brought his attention back to her. He considered her for several moments, glanced around the corridor and gangplank as if he was looking for something and finally caught her upper arm and led her down the corridor in the opposite direction from which she’d come. Finally, he stopped before a door and pushed it open, indicating that she should enter.

She glanced inside, saw that it must be his cabin and looked at him uncomfortably. "I’m fine standing."

His lips tightened. "I’m not."

She debated for a moment and finally stepped inside. When he’d followed her, he closed the door. She moved across the room to a chair, but instead of sitting, she turned to face him. She saw that he’d propped a hip on the top of his desk and was watching her. His gaze flickered over the rounded mound of her belly and finally returned to her face.

"Thirty to forty days," she said.

His brows rose questioningly.

"You were wondering about the ... your infant."

He looked at her piercingly. "Ours."

Confused, Dalia tilted her head curiously. "I don’t ... oh!" She shrugged. "I prefer not to think of it that way."

Something flickered in his eyes that made her heart jolt uncomfortably in her chest, but he looked away and she wondered if she had misinterpreted it.

"Why?"

She let out a shaky breath and stared down at the mound that prevented her from looking at her feet. "I don’t really want to talk about it."

He scrubbed his hand over his face tiredly. "Why didn’t you come to me and tell me about the problem with the female, Zenia?"

Dalia glanced up at him in surprise. "I didn’t think about it. I didn’t know how even if I had."

He made a sound of frustration and got up from the desk abruptly. "Damn it, Dalia! You could have spoken to the guards. Don’t you know I would’ve done something sooner if I’d known?"

She shrugged. "No, I didn’t, but it doesn’t matter now, does it?"

"It matters."

She sighed. "I didn’t think about it at first. I had no idea it would take so long to get here, or that the infant would grow so fast, or that Zenia would only become more hostile with time instead of less. After a while, I realized she was only awaiting an opportunity to strike. I didn’t know what you might do to me if I was embroiled in a fight and the infant was hurt. After a while, I realized I couldn’t defend myself anyway. I’d gotten too slow, too clumsy and too weak." She shook her head. "I didn’t think any of the others would help me, because they would expect me to be able to defend myself, but then I remembered Pierce from the academy and I knew he would take care of me."

"The blond one."

She looked at him. It wasn’t really a question and in any case he knew very well who Pierce was. "What did you do with Zenia?"

He shrugged. "She is being treated. It seems doubtful that her mind can be repaired, but there is nothing we can do but try."

Dalia nodded. She was relieved, not because she particularly cared about Zenia herself, but because she was glad to know that she hadn’t misjudged the cyborgs. They might not be human, but they were capable of humane treatment. "What will you do with me when this is finished?" she asked, gesturing toward her abdomen.

He said nothing for several moments and finally Dalia glanced up at him. The pain she’d thought she glimpsed before was evident now and he made no attempt to hide it. "Do you hate me so much?"

Dalia was startled. "I don’t hate you at all."

He searched her face and some of the anguish left his expression. "I’m ... as defective in my own way as Zenia," he said at last. "I made mistakes and because I was angry, I made more mistakes, until I didn’t know how to make it stop.

"Then, when I saw you with ... him, I knew it was too late and I’d completely screwed everything up."

Dismay filled her. "Don’t." She smiled wryly. "We’re all defective, I guess. I’ve made so many mistakes, but I’m learning. I think, I hope, next time, if there is a next time, I’ll do better. But I don’t hate you because I know you were right. I thought about it a lot. I know what I did was unforgivable. I can’t even forgive myself. I wouldn’t expect you to. And it was more than that. I was programmed to fight, to kill, not to nurture. I don’t think I can. Maybe, in time, I’ll change."

He swallowed with an obvious effort. "I didn’t mean the things I said to you."

She nodded. "It’s all right. I’m over it now."

"Are you?"

She chewed her lip. "Mostly."

"Mostly?" he said pensively, taking a step toward her. "Not completely?"

Dalia eyed him nervously and glanced toward the door. She could see that he’d locked it. She held up her hand. "Don’t. Let’s just leave it at that."

"I can’t."

"Why not?" she said plaintively.

"You know why."

"You don’t love me," Dalia said a little desperately, taking another step toward the door to put some space between them. "You couldn’t love me and hurt me like that. You couldn’t love me and not forgive me."

"How do you know?" he asked quietly, following her step for step.

"Because ... I just do. I know that when you love someone you don’t expect them to be perfect and you love them in spite of their mistakes."

He shrugged. "I don’t know. I never had love before. I never felt love before. You’ll have to teach me." He braced his hands on either side of her head as she flattened herself against the door, unable to open it.

Chapter Seventeen

Reuel bent his head, kissing her cheek when she twisted her face away, then nuzzling her ear. "How is it that you understand it so much better than I, little flower?" he whispered huskily, tugging at her earlobe with his lips.

A shiver of sensation skated over Dalia’s flesh. Warmth followed it and a dizzying weakness that made it necessary to lock her wobbly knees. She swallowed. "I’m so horribly swollen. How could you want me, now?"

He pulled away from her and looked down at the huge bulge that kept them apart. Lifting one hand, he skated it lightly over her distended abdomen, as if testing the circumference. When he looked up and met her gaze once more, his eyes glowed with passion. "You are as beautiful to me as you were when I first saw you. This only makes you more beautiful to me, more desirable, not less."

She was more inclined to believe he was too desperate to join his body with hers to care, but she felt much the same. This time when he lowered his lips to hers, she tilted her head up to meet him. Heat seared her as his lips met and clung to her own once, twice. Then he brushed his lips lightly across the sensitive surface of her lips in a tentative caress, as if he was testing his welcome. She inhaled sharply, sucking his breath into her, tasting him on her tongue. The effect was far more devastating to her senses than she remembered. Sighing in defeat, she lifted her hands to his chest and skated her palms upward, clutching his shoulders.

It was all the encouragement he needed. Groaning, he covered her mouth with his own and thrust his tongue inside her to explore her intimately. Another rush of stinging pleasure sparked along her nerve endings. Her skin flushed with sensation.

Her belly clenched painfully with long denied desire.

The baby kicked reflexively.

Reuel jumped back as if he’d been scalded. He stared down at her stomach with such a look of stunned surprise that Dalia burst out laughing.

He glanced at her and slowly a grin dawned. He placed his hand on her stomach tentatively. Sensing the pressure, the baby kicked again. "I felt him."

Dalia laughed. "I’d have been more surprised if you hadn’t."

After a moment, he slipped a hand behind her back, bent and put his other arm beneath her knees, and lifted her up. Turning, he strode across the room and set her on her feet beside the bed. Without a word, he caught hold of her gown and pulled it off over her head. Dalia covered her stomach self-consciously, but he pushed her hands away, skimming his own hands over her belly.

Dalia sighed, feeling the heat of burgeoning desire slowly dissipate.

He glanced at her and a slow smile dawned. "This will require some experimentation."

She felt a rush of pleasure. "Will it?"

Stripping his tunic off, he tossed it, grasped her, and climbed into the bed with her. Pushing her flat against the mattress, he levered himself over her and covered her mouth in a kiss that spoke of a hunger that matched or surpassed her own. Instantly, she lost awareness of everything but the feel of his mouth on hers, his taste, the scent of his flesh. The heat that had scarcely waned, surged back tenfold as she stroked his chest, his back, his arms, relishing the feel of his bare flesh. He skated his hands over her in a restless caress of his own, massaging her swollen breasts and distended nipples, caressing her belly and thighs.

When at last he broke the kiss, it was only to follow the path of his hands, to caress her already sensitive flesh with the heat of his mouth. She had missed his kisses most of all, she thought as she watched him moving along her flesh. Whatever he said, whatever he did, he loved her with each hungry kiss, adored her, and it made every touch, every kiss, exquisite, profoundly satisfying. "Tell me you love me," he whispered hoarsely.

She kissed his shoulder, slid a hand along his hard belly, searching for the distended flesh she could feel digging into her thigh. He shifted upward and it skated along her palm, a heated, throbbing, hard length of flesh that filled her hand and made her heart labor even harder, made her lungs struggle to drag air into her chest. Closing her hand around his erection, she stroked him, nipping love bites along the bulging muscles of his upper chest. He groaned, surging against her clenched hand as he sought her lips once more. "Say it," he murmured against her lips before he covered her mouth with his own, kissing her deeply.