Heart of a Warrior

22

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"BRITT, YOU AWAKE YET?" JAN CALLED FROM THE living-room. You've got company."

Brittany knew she had company. She opened her eyes to see that her company was still sleeping, his feet hanging over the end of her bed quite a bit. It was an extra-length model and fit her just fine, but they really didn't make beds for seven-footers.

"Britt?" It was shouted this time.

Okay, so she wasn't quite awake yet, or she would have realized Jan wasn't talking about Dalden, that her friend likely didn't know yet that he'd spent the night.

"Coming!" she shouted back.

She leapt out of bed, yanked her bulky white terry robe out of the closet, wrapped it on, and stepped out into the living room. She vaguely heard Dalden stirring behind her, but didn't dare look back at him, or she'd be really rude to whoever was there and simply tell them to get lost. She had a mind to anyway, up until she got a look at the man standing just inside their front door.

Jan was staring at him as if she were starving and he was six feet of chocolate cake. Brittany couldn't blame her. The man was unbelievably handsome; actually, way, way too handsome. She'd never seen anyone who looked that perfect, like he was created to someone's ideal specifications. He even fit her own specifications, was at least as tall as her if not taller. She wasn't sure she wanted to get close enough to see if he might top her by a few inches, when she was still doubting her eyes. He was even more handsome than Dalden, if that was possible, though in a different way, less masculine-beautiful was the word that came to mind.

He wore a one-piece jumpsuit that looked like some kind of uniform. His eyes were so green that the color was clear even from across the room. His hair was coal black, cut short, though not excessively short. And he carried some sort of large plastic container that Brittany did a double-take on when she realized it was filled with groceries.

She finally asked, "You sure you have the right apartment?''

He smiled at her. "Martha doesn't make mistakes. She sent me with some necessities for the big guy."

"Ohhhh, you're a friend of Dalden's." That didn't get confirmed.

Instead she heard behind her, "Corth II, Martha? Is that wise?"

"Just saving time, kiddo, since you depleted the little gal's cupboards yesterday," Martha's voice chimed in.

Poor Jan was staring wide-eyed now at Dalden's bare chest. He'd donned only the jeans before appearing in the doorway to the bedroom, and was hooking Martha's box over the denim. The female voice she'd just heard, with no body to go along with it, was probably confusing the hell out of her. She was also undoubtedly shocked to find Dalden coming out of Brittany's bedroom.

Tactfully, though, all Jan said was, "I think I need a cup of coffee," and disappeared into the kitchen.

Brittany wanted one as well, but decided some clothes might be a better idea first. "I'll just get dressed while you chat with your friend."

She'd still been staring at their visitor while she said it, which was possibly why there was some annoyance in Dalden's voice when he replied, "Corth II is not staying."

"It sounds like I'm not staying," Corth II said with a cheeky smile. "Nice to meet you, Brittany Callaghan, however briefly. Perhaps-"

"Be gone!" Dalden growled.

The man obeyed, though he seemed quite amused as he left. Martha was chuckling some as well.

"My, my, that was interesting," came purring out of the little box. "Losing some of that renowned Sha-Ka'ani control there, warrior? 'Course, I shouldn't be surprised, after you totally lost it last night."

Brittany frowned at the box on his hip. "Why are you picking on him, Martha?"

If a shrug could be heard in a voice, it was heard now in Martha's. "Just setting the stage for my explanation, hon, before Dalden starts to fret over natural inclinations that he's convinced he doesn't possess. A fretting warrior is like a time bomb, which we don't need at this stage of the game."

"Martha has said too much already," Dalden said in grumbling tones.

"Martha hasn't said nearly enough yet," Martha countered. "But you can relax over some of those inclinations, warrior. Last night, you were provoked big-time. What you witnessed has been a form of sexual enticement for centuries. It's known to easily incite passions. Some cultures have managed to get rid of it, the thinking being that their people have enough stress to deal with, that sexual stress in that form only compounds the problem."

"Good grief," Brittany said incredulously. "You're talking about our dancing last night?"

"Watching you dance pushed him over the edge, doll, if you didn't notice at the time. You might want to make sure there is no more of that nonsense until after we've finished our task here."

"Some people consider dancing to be fun," Brittany pointed out.

"Some people are used to it," Martha shot back, "Dalden isn't one of them."

Brittany stared at Dalden and then blushed profusely. "I hope you don't think it was my intention to-to-"

He quickly closed the space between them, clasped her face in his hands, smiled at her. "I would change no part of last night, kerima. "

She wouldn't, either-well, she wished she could recall getting back here. Black holes in the memory were a bit frightening, in not knowing what you might have done during the missing time frame. But she supposed if she had done anything more stupid than driving under severe influence, he would have mentioned it by now.

Everything else she remembered clearly, including his assurance that she was his lifemate, that they wouldn't be parted until he had her in a place familiar to him. She would like to get "familiar" defined. Tacking "home" to it was unrealistic, when he could have just meant back to wherever his base of operations was for this assignment he was on. Lifemate was another word she needed his interpretation of. She knew the definition she'd like to put to it, but in some cultures, mate just meant friend, so she wasn't going to assume what it meant for him.

But she wasn't quite up to an interrogation yet, and what she suspected might be some considerable disappointment on her part as a result. She'd rather savor the contentment she'd felt last night awhile longer.

So she wrapped her arms around him, squeezed a bit, and said, "I'll endeavor to keep you out of any more disco-type establishments, but I'm sure we can manage to have fun without the dancing part."

Martha was chuckling. Dalden's smile widened considerably. And Brittany remembered too late that he referred to lovemaking as "fun."

She stepped back and snorted at the both of them. "That's not what I meant-bah, never mind. While I get dressed, why don't you unload the groceries your friend was nice enough to drop off."

"Corth II is not a friend."

"Fine. Enemy then."

"Nor that," he replied. "My mother considers him part of the family."

"She does? Which implies you don't?"

"Like my father, I have little tolerance for those of Corth II's ilk."

"Ohh-kay," she said, stretching out the word. "I suppose that made perfect sense-to you. And come to think of it, I'd just as soon not know what you mean by 'ilk.' I do find it odd, however, his having a number for a last name. Is that common in your country?"

"It is not a last name. He is the second in his line, an advanced model of Martha's creation, similar to the original Corth."

"Martha's son?" she said with surprise.

"Something like that."

"Something like-?" She frowned now. "Okay, I know I'm missing something here, and now I'd like that explanation. Martha, want to fill me in?"

"Not a chance, doll. I just love watching warriors dig holes they can't get out of."

Brittany made a face, but turned her questions back in Dalden's direction. "So why didn't this Corth get an original name?"

"Martha is a Mock II. It follows that anything that improves on the original, as she was, would get the same classification from her."

"I give up. You're talking like he's a machine, an android or something like that, when that's impossible."

"Why impossible?"

"Because we might be making strides with robotic gadgets, but nothing even remotely like what just walked in here. That was a man. I've got eyes. There was nothing mechanical about him."

He reminded her, "Inventions that defy belief, you were told."

She blinked at him, but then she chuckled. "I'm glad you've got a sense of humor, Dalden, I really am. It's an odd one, but none the less amusing."

"Woman-"

"This might be a really good time to drop the subject, children," Martha interjected dryly at that point. "You've overslept this morning. The big guy still needs to be fed. I was hoping we'd get to City Hall when it first opens, but now you'll have to backtrack again, to make sure no mischief gets caused before your arrival. Waste of time that could have been prevented if someone's alarm had been set."

Brittany blushed, mumbled something about grumpy old women, and went back to the bedroom to get dressed.