##6
(Silnaday)
Soundside, Çtaŕaña
.
Hrista Hollins awoke with a start before she realized that the warm arms around her were expected. She was a millimeter from the edge of the couch, only held to the warm body behind her by Kjane’s strong arms.
“Has anyone told you how sexy you are?” he asked, kissing her neck.
“No!” she cried out, dislodging his arms and standing quickly.
“Well, you are, sweetheart,” he continued. “I almost wish that the conductor had decided to hang around yesterday. I would have loved to have sampled your sweetness more.”
“I’m not your sweetheart!” Hrista retorted.
“You could have fooled me on the ship.”
“Which is why I was about to slap you!”
“I had to stop you giving us away. As it was, your thoughts were so murderous that I’m surprised the conductor didn’t see right through them!”
“Good! I didn’t want to be part of your little gang anyway!”
“You’re part of us now, whether you want to be or not,” Kjane replied, now standing and pulling her close to him again.
“Or what?” she asked. “Can’t I just walk out of here free?”
He lowered his lips to hers and seemed to devour her mouth, pressing his tongue into her, feeling her teeth, tasting her tongue. She forgot that she should slap him again and felt herself sinking against him, completely out of control. “That’s why you won’t just walk away from me,” he replied, then took another sample.
Hrista tried to remind herself that he was a notorious, wanted man… that she had only met him the previous evening. But her body melted against him anyway, returning his kisses with her own feverish passion.
His hands came up under her top.
“No,” she insisted, pushing him away.
“You want more. We could take some time right now… no one would know better.”
“I don’t want more,” she lied, trying to deny the amorous thoughts and tingles that had been going through her mind since they met the previous evening.
“And your punishment for lying is that you’ll get exactly what you say, and not what you actually want!” he scolded, pushing her away heavily. Her cheeks burned as she regained her balance. No one had ever got to her so fast before!
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small handle. “Take this. You will need it – regardless of what happens today.”
Hrista pulled the small tool out of its scabbard, watching it glow before her.
“Your father never showed you his shaze? Or any of his tools?”
She shook her head as she put the shazeknife away, slipping it onto the wasteband of her shorts.
“That was wrong of him – on so many levels. You’re A’mara my sweetheart.”
“No! I can’t be! My mother said I wasn’t gifted.”
“But you are. Sometimes, mothers will say things for strange reasons. Undoubtedly, she thought she was saving you. But an untrained Sensitive is, at least, a waste of talent. At worst, they can be dangerous.”
“So, what do we do next?”
“Do you have a PCS code for your father or your brothers?”
“No.”
“I don’t have one either. So, we’re going to have to work a little harder.”
“What?”
“We must go to Omrill.”
“But surely, the Complex was destroyed along with all the others?”
“Yes. But there may be clues as to where they went – so that other wandering A’mara could find them. Maybe their stella is still around...”
Hrista nodded. “That’s a long way to walk.”
“Over a week from here. But we’re going to take a hoverbus. So, only a couple of hours, including the stop in Chalða.” He hefted the backpack onto his back. “We’d better go or we will have to walk, and I don’t have that much food for us!” He handed a granola bar to Hrista who took a big bite.
“We’ll try to get something more in Chalða.”
“I thought you didn’t have any money either.”
“I have enough – but didn’t feel like wasting it on a boat when you also didn’t have a ticket.” Kjane smiled at her, a smile that melted Hrista’s heart as surely as her mouth was melting the chocolate on her granola bar.
“Told you,” he murmured, kissing her cheek. Then he grabbed her hand and led her from the storehouse, her cheeks burning again, thinking of how right he was!
They walked, hand-in-hand to the hoverbus station which wasn’t too far away in order to be convenient for the docks. A boat was in the distance making its way to Soundside. “We need to be on that bus before that boat gets here,” Kjane informed.
Hrista nodded. “I can jog,” she offered.
He nodded. “It may do, though it will make people look at us. Think about how we need to catch that bus for our honeymoon.”
“Honeymoon?!” she gasped.
“What else explains the two of us, me carrying everything… amorous thoughts permeating both of our brains constantly… Obviously, we just got married! Makes a good story, right?”
“I guess,” Hrista agreed with a shrug. Then she started jogging for the hoverbus station, Kjane keeping right with her.
Luckily, they reached the bus, huffing and puffing, just as the driver was closing the door.
Kjane banged on it and the driver opened it again.
“Thank you!” Hrista cried out as they got on, Kjane digging in his pockets for notes and change.
“Where are you going?” the driver asked.
“Omrill. We’re meeting with some other honeymooners for a trek in the forests!”
“I have always wanted to see the sippers!” Hrista blurted out eagerly.
The driver nodded. “I’ll tell you which bus at Chalða.”
“Please!” Hrista begged. “You should have seen us in Hailu! We totally took the wrong bus and ended up at the casino!”
“Sit down,” the driver pleaded.
Hrista walked towards the back.
“Near the rear doors,” Kjane murmured.
She obeyed, sitting in the row behind the doors.
Kjane put his backpack above them in the rack and sat next to her as the vehicle moved away from the station.
If you have enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could put your thoughts as a review on [Goodreads](coming soon) for me.
Buy at: Books2Read
Other chapters of stories about Decima...
Decima: Ground Zero - chapter 1
Decima: One Mission - chapter 1
Maps and Guides
Apothecary Kit, Dec 2019 - part of the kit of a good healer
Map of Kranisis
This book takes place on Irola.
Çtarest is also mentioned. That is the giant mountain that forms the border between Çtaráña, Shayanda and Ubre'in.
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2105 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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