Tip of the Spear (7 page)

Most
males had no heart, no true spirit in line with the Great Mother. But the
Amazons did, and for them to turn on each other…  No wonder the tribe was all
but crushed. Such offense against everything the Goddess taught—

“Thais?”
Hinto’s soft voice brought her head up. He walked toward her in nothing but his
jeans. His chest and face looked damp, his hair wet and dripping down his back.
Without his shirt and hat on, he looked so much larger, so much stronger. Muscles
rippled as he moved, and when he raised an arm to slick back his hair, the
prominent bulges he displayed made her want to reach out and touch, as if to
gather such strength to herself and hold onto it for the coming battles she
would face.

“Are
you okay?” He stopped a few feet from her. His gaze trailed down to her hand,
and he frowned.

She
squeezed her fist and realized she’d cut herself with the shard from her
mother’s spear. Blood trickled onto the dirt until she stood, pocketed the
piece, and wiped her hand on her bandana lying near.

“I’m
fine. Where is the water?”

“There’s
a stream a few paces that way.” He nodded behind him. “There’s no one close and
no trace of predators near.” He paused. “I’ll start a fire.”

She
appreciated his sense that she needed to be alone and left him and her poor
memories behind. The stream turned out to be hip deep in the center and colder
than anything she’d ever experienced. Making good use of it, she washed every
part of her she could think of, wishing she’d remembered to buy soap in town.

As
if she’d asked for him, Hinto called her name. “Thais?”

Swearing,
she crouched low, aware the water reached the tops of her breasts. But at least
in this position she could spring to action if need be. Sprawled on her back in
the water wouldn’t give her any sense of defense.

“Holy
shit,” he said and whistled when he appeared from out of the tree line. “You
sure do clean up nice.” Hinto stood there staring, his gaze moving over her too
quickly to rest on any one part of her. He’d put on a clean shirt but hadn’t
buttoned it, and the sight of his bare chest only partially hidden warmed her
from the inside out.

“Why
are you here?” she asked, wishing she didn’t want so badly to touch him. Why
was she so intent on touching
a man
, one with a talent for irritating
her?

“Thought
you might want some soap.” He held up his hand. “I’ll leave it right here.” He
placed it on top of her clothes but didn’t move away.

She
waved her hand to shoo him away, but the arrogant male crossed his arms over
his chest and continued to watch her.

“You
want the soap? Come get it.” He grinned.

Did
he think she wouldn’t take his dare? Unlike many of the women living in the
Territories, Amazons had no shame of the bodies the Goddess gave them. To
assimilate into this culture and prevent male aggression, she covered herself
from head to toe day in and day out. But the Goddess knew, she sorely missed
her leopard hides.

Here,
finally, she had the freedom to be herself. Yet she crouched low in the water
because of him. Hinto. A male.

She
raised a brow and smiled, then rose to her feet. The look on his face was worth
more than a dozen victories. His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed, and he took a
step in her direction.

Thais
reached the soap and picked it up. When she straightened, Hinto stood an arm’s
length from her. He stared from the top of her head to the tips of her toes,
lingering over her breasts and the V between her thighs.

“Damn,”
he breathed, clenching his fists by his sides. “You win.” To her
consternation,  that part between his thighs stood out in relief in his denim
trousers.

She
deliberately turned her back on him and walked back into the water, immersing
herself to cool off the sudden heat that consumed her. When she surfaced, Hinto
had gone. Thais grinned, exhilarated to have won this bout with the male. He
might have an unanticipated effect on her, but she clearly had one on him as
well.

As
she soaped herself, thoroughly enjoying her bath, she wondered about him. She’d
seen naked males before. A few babes at home, some younger men while hiding in
the Territories, and the elderly Chow Yen when he’d grown sick and needed help
bathing. Thais had a rough knowledge of the male physique. She’d also been told
how a woman conceived, though she’d never seen humans engage in the act. The
jungle was full of creatures repopulating the forest. But she found it odd that
only men seemed to enjoy the act, and not necessarily to beget children.

Thais
shivered and hurried out of the water. She slicked the water from her and
dressed, leaving off the breast binding that caused her much discomfort. She’d
be damned if she’d suffer more because of Hinto’s presence. If her breasts
bothered him, he could look away. She glanced down at herself once again
clothed. She couldn’t see much beneath the thin shirt and vest she wore overtop.
In just the shirt she could see the outline of her nipples, peaked due to the
decreasing temperature. Hugging herself, she retraced her steps to a campfire.
Over the fire lay a tripod made of metal, from which a small pot hung. The
aroma coming from it made her mouth water.

Hinto
looked up from the pot he stirred, his stare lingering over her vest and
resting on her face.  “You’re playing a dangerous game, honey.” His gritty
voice did funny things to the pit of her stomach.

“Perhaps
you should think twice before challenging me to anything. I’m not afraid of
you, Hinto.”

Instead
of growling back at her, he smiled. “Why, Thais, I do believe that’s the very
first time you’ve used my name. I’m growing on you, ain’t I?’

“Like
a disease,” she muttered, and he laughed. She walked toward the fire and sat
down on her blanket, on the opposite side from where he’d set his things. “What
are you fixing?”

“Rabbit
stew. I found one while you were bathing.” He licked his lips and stared at her
chest. “And I’m just gonna say it, straight out. I’ve never seen a more perfect
body in all my life. So yeah, you won our little dare, but I’m going to be
dreaming about you for years to come. So I’d say I’m a winner too.”

She
frowned. Trust Hinto to ruin her petty triumph. The way he continued to stare
at her chest made her self-conscious. “Stop it.”

His
eyes widened with feigned innocence. “Stop what?”

“You
know,” she muttered. “I’d love to know what’s so interesting about breasts,
anyway. Everyone has them.”

“But
not everyone has what you have.” He lifted his hands and sighed. “They’d fit in
my palms perfectly. Wanna see?”

She
rolled her eyes, not sure if he was serious or joking. She decided to pretend
the latter, not sure how she felt about a real request for such touching. Though
she never would have admitted it to anyone, she was more than curious about
these strange feelings he evoked. Never before had she wanted to know a man’s
touch. Hinto made her wonder, made her ache with those lingering glances and
heated stares.

“You
sure?” he asked again and stirred the pot. “Because I’m thinking a part of you
wants to see what it would be like. Hell, I’ll even sit back and let you run
the show. You tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

While
the idea held appeal, an instinct for self-preservation told Thais that letting
Hinto anywhere close to her personal space would be a disaster. Though she had
every confidence in her abilities as a warrior, when it came to mating, she’d
never before been tested.

She
knew damned well Hinto had.

“No.
Just the meal.”

“Suit
yourself.” He mumbled something else she couldn’t quite catch.

Ignoring
him, she ran her hands through her hair, cringing at the knots left by the cold
water and harsh soap. She rummaged through her pack and found a tortoise shell
comb. Slowly working through the tangles, she repeatedly slid the comb through
her hair,  mesmerized by the fire.

“Here,”
Hinto said into her ear. She jumped and would have fallen back had he not
steadied her with a warm hand to her shoulder. “Your stew,” he said with
amusement.

As
she picked up the bowl and the wooden spoon he handed her, she started to take
a bite when he settled down directly behind her. She stiffened, conscious her
knife sat by her side but was not on her person.
Stupid.

“Relax,”
he chided, the rumble of his voice pressing through his chest against her back.
“I’ll finish combing your hair while you eat.”

“No,
I can—”

“Yes,
you can. But I want to. My hair’s not nearly as long as yours, nor so soft.” He
combed it gently. “It won’t hurt us to build a small measure of trust before we
find Gregor, will it?”

He
had a point. They were stuck together, like it or not.

“What
did Kitty promise you in exchange for this trip?” Something about a woman named
DeeDee?

“A
bounty on Gregor’s head.”

Gold.
Funny, she’d started to think better of him. But like all the other Territory
men, apparently Hinto wanted wealth.

“And
Kitty promised to give a friend of mine back her contract.”

“Contract?”

He
continued to comb her hair, his strokes surprisingly gentle. “DeeDee works at
Kitty House. She needed money to pay some debts her dead husband ran up. She
can’t have children, so she whores for Kitty until her debt is paid. She
shouldn’t have to.”

“Oh.”
Thais ignored her relief, that she hadn’t misjudged Hinto. Then again, what did
her feelings about the man matter?

She
ate some of the stew, relaxing with food in her belly, a warm fire at her
front, and a warm body at her back. As soon as she thought it, she stiffened. She’d
let
a man
sit behind her. Not Yara, Isadora or Luiza, but a man. She slowly
put the half-finished bowl down and tried to turn, but he wouldn’t let her. Her
pulse began to pound, anxiety forcing her to question the blatant disregard of
everything she’d ever been taught.

“Uh-uh.
You agreed to sit here while I comb your hair.” When she didn’t move, he swore.
“Thais, if I’d wanted to hurt you, I would have already. Shit, I watched you
walk toward me in nothing but your skin. You walked right back into that water
unmolested. If that’s not trust, I don’t know what is.”

Though
he had a point, she couldn’t help feeling angry. What was wrong with her? Thais
didn’t care for men. She had no intention of breeding with them, nor did she
plan to become involved with anyone while on this quest for the queen. What
concerned her most was this bizarre level of trust she felt for a man she
didn’t really know.

She
let out a soft breath as the comb gently massaged her scalp. A guardian who survived
the death of her queen did not have the right to happiness and comfort. No
matter that she hadn’t completed the ceremony officially appointing her station,
Thais knew what sacrifice meant. A guardian lived and died to protect her
charge. Yet the queen, and most likely her successor, lay dead, while Thais
what? Relaxed in front of a fire?

For
years she’d lived without, always on guard. Responsible for her sisters and Estefina’s
last request, she hadn’t relaxed. Until tonight when she sat with a stranger,
a
male
, and felt more at peace than she had in years. Guilt gnawed at her,
obliterating the calm Hinto’s ministrations had given her.

“That
should do,” he murmured and stood. He handed her the comb, his eyes shuttered. “Why
don’t you get some sleep? You look like you could use it.”

Instead
of arguing, she nodded. She had nothing else to say.

Territory
men had slaughtered her tribe, her
mother
. Her sisters were even now out
in a foreign world surrounded by the unknown, out of her reach, beyond her
control. She shivered in the night wind and curled up under her blanket atop
her thin bedroll, her knife in hand. As she stared into the fire, she wondered
what her mother would have thought about Hinto, and why she cared.

Later
in the night, she blinked at the dying embers cloaked in darkness. She’d been
so cold, so incredibly close to crying, something she hadn’t done since her
mother passed. The dreams had been bad tonight.

Thais
strolled along the trail trying hard to recapture the levity of her days spent
with her friends. Their time in The Cave had restored her faith in life, in the
Goddess, and in their friendship. But with each step she took closer to the
village, the louder her internal alarms clamored for attention.

She
passed the outer perimeter to the village. No one stood sentry.  

Luiza
stopped suddenly in front of her. “Do you hear that?”

Thais
considered the silence and what it might mean. She clasped her knife in hand
and tossed her bag to the ground. “Come with me, quietly. Something is wrong.”

The
others nodded and fell in behind her. Making no sound, they moved with stealth
over the ground they called home. Heading off the trail into the jungle, they
skirted the main camp and moved instead through the housing huts, where they
would less likely be seen. Except there was no one to hide from. The children,
the elders, and the infirm had all disappeared.