Stolen - Nhys Glover Page 0,69

interference may have done more harm than good. But it was the only way to keep the invaders at bay. If they had more to eat they’d be less inclined to head north into our territory. Or so the argument went.”

“Nature can be very cruel. I still think some kind of infertility drug should be administered to keep their numbers under control.”

Lain had made himself at home as we talked, sitting on the edge of the pretty little stream while he took water samples. All the while, I played with the water and watched him. It was hard not to, when he had such an incredible ripped body. His muscles were a work of art. My fingers itched to touch them. But I fought down the urge. This was no time for sex.

When he gave me a nod, I beamed and submerged my whole face under the foot deep water. Bliss! The chilly stream was pure bliss. Opening my mouth, I gulped in the life-giving liquid. It tasted as good as it felt and looked. When I’d drunk enough, and soaked myself enough, I threw back my head and laughed, sending water pellets cascading in every direction.

I felt Lain’s arousal and his thoughts of my beauty. My desire surged to meet his.

I needed to get our minds onto something else, stat, before we started something we couldn’t finish.

“How long do you think before help comes?” I said aloud, desperate to refocus us.

Lain shrugged. “Who knows? With so many occupied with the aftermath of the storm there may be no one available for a while. And we have no comms with us.”

“Why?” It seemed the most necessary item they should have packed.

“Comms transmissions are easily picked up by the Vargeez, where the beacons, operating on a different kind of frequency, remain undetected.”

I busied myself with more water play, trying to get my head around the intricacies of the Vargeez. “If they aren’t technological, how do they pick up our comms?”

“Mother says that your bats on Gaia have sonar. They bounce signals off surfaces to aid them in navigation. Did you know this?”

I nodded.

“The Vargeez have something similar. It’s like they hear a huge range of vibrational frequencies. That’s how they communicate. They can’t interpret the messages we send, but they can follow them. If we begin sending and receiving messages via comms they’d be on us within the hour.”

I sighed and settled back on the bank, leaving my feet dangling in the water like Lain’s. I wasn’t wearing shoes when we’d crash-landed, and there hadn’t been time to think about footwear. Having Lain carry me had been a blessing in more ways than just my lack of energy. My feet handled the soft soil I’d walked on to the stream, but they wouldn’t have taken well to running across vast distances.

“Can we stay here until someone comes for us? It’s so peaceful and beautiful.”

Lain sighed heavily. “We have to get as far away from our ship as possible. And the closer to the border we can get, the better. Nial hasn’t said how far south we are, but it has to be more than a few hundred miles. We also need a place where a ship can land. This isn’t it.”

I accepted the truth in all he said. It was just that I was so tired I could barely think straight. So much had happened in such a very short period of time. All I wanted was a chance to take a breath.

When Rian called me via Mind Speak, I reluctantly climbed to my feet. “Rian says we need to get back and eat. Then we’re on our way again.”

Lain nodded without showing any sign of annoyance. Now we were fighting for our lives I guess all jealousies had been put behind us. That was a relief at least.

After devouring an emergency meal pack, I allowed myself to be scooped up by Lain once more. Nial took up the heavier burden of the Theran so Meida got a break.

Once again we began to streak across the terrain. I immediately began chatting with Rian to keep my mind occupied.

It was getting hard to keep my mind off sex, being so close to Lain. His big blue muscles bulged enticingly right next to me as I rested on his equally big shoulder. I was becoming a raging sex maniac. That was only too apparent.

‘Did Nial say how far south we are?’ I asked.

‘Yes. Over five hundred miles from the closest isthmus. The Vargeez