Page 21 of Hainn

The group convened on the beach and Vindy parked the flyer under the shelter of a grove of towering trees. Jezari and the others helped her spread the camouflage net and bring out the generous number of stasis containers with the lunch offerings Sandara and her staff had packed. The surfing party had made an amazing inroad into the huge stock of meals—Badari ate prodigious quantities anyway due to their fast metabolism and the physical demands of surfing burned even more calories than usual.

Jezari was grabbing the last container of drinks when Vindy came down the ramp to join the group. The pilot walked beside her as they headed for the spot where the picnic had been set up.

“So, you and Hainn,” Vindy said, head tilted as she surveyed Jezari in her bikini and wrap.

Inside Jezari tensed but outwardly kept her calm demeanor. “He invited me to come surfing, yes.”

“He’s a good guy,” the pilot said. “But he’s a player so a word to the wise, better watch out for yourself. I know you haven’t been in the social mix much at the valley since getting out of thehospital but these South Seas boys like to play. And they like variety, if you catch my drift. Nothing and no one holds their attention for long.”

“Except a mate,” Jezari said.

“Well yeah. You saying you’re his mate? I don’t see the famous mate mark.” Raising her eyebrows, the woman studied Jezari’s shoulder. The coverup had slipped off and the skin was bare, plainly unmarked.

“It’s a social weekend,” Jezari said. “Nothing more.”

“I had a few of those with Hainn and then he moved on.” Vindy raised her hands as if to ward off a blow. “Hey, no harm, no foul, right? Two consenting adults, doing what comes naturally. But that’s all it was, for all the fun we had.”

Jezari had the distinct impression Vindy didn’t believe her own words. Maybe for Hainn their brief relationship had been nothing but fun but the pilot’s comments implied deeper emotions. And hopes. Didn’t nearly every human woman want to be a claimed Badari mate? Certainly that’s what the gossip in the valley said. Her Badari sisters had shared tales of things they’d heard from various humans they worked with or had friendships with, leaving Jezari with a mix of amusement and annoyance. Right now she was distinctly trending toward the latter and her temper was rising.

Luckily Stonor came up to them, with Hainn a few steps behind and Vindy walked away from Jezari without another word. She and Stonor had their heads together, laughing at something he said as she approached. Hainn relieved Jezari of the stasis container and they strolled in silence.

“You seem tense—everything okay?” he asked.

“Our pilot was doing a little girl bonding chitchat, nothing important.” Jezari tried to hit a light note. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known Hainn was a flirt and able to do casualrelationships with a variety of human women. Many of his brothers were the same, unlike the men in the Northern packs.

Hainn stopped, setting the container in the sand and taking Jezari’s elbow to swing her around to face him. “Did she make a comment about us?”

“You and her? Or you and me? Which us?” She allowed a bit of anger to seep into her tone.

He cast a glance at the sky as if asking the goddess for help. “Yes, I dated her. Yes, we slept together. No, it wasn’t anything serious. Two adults basically scratching an itch. We had fun but that’s all it was.”

“You might want to check your assumptions because going by what she said to me,shewasn’t casual about it, or where she hoped it might lead.”

“I told her up front, as I do with any woman I get involved with in the valley, they’re not going to be my claimed mate so there’s no future in us being together. It’s a casual encounter. If no strings and no long term commitment isn’t what they’re looking for, nothing further happens between us.” Now he sounded defensive and a bit hot. “Vindy was fine with the arrangement and the fling took its course and ended after a few dates.”

“I have no interest in discussing your dating history,” Jezari said with dignity, pulling her elbow free from his grip. “And you forgot to give me that handy lecture so Vindy was filling in the gap for me.” Satisfied with her parting shot, she walked away to join the group at the small fire Stonor had going.

No one lingered over lunch as there was the afternoon for diving, fishing and surfing. Hainn sat next to Jezari during the meal but they didn’t talk to each other, choosing to participate in the group conversation. As the group was cleaning up and hauling containers and trash to the flyer he sent her a message.

Do you still want to dive this afternoon?

He sounded hopeful and she took a moment to ponder. Vindy hadn’t really told her anything she didn’t know about the South Seas healer and Hainn hadn’t lied or misrepresented himself to Jezari. There were no strings attached to the weekend and her enjoyment of it and of his company.

Her hand strayed to her stomach.Except for you, my cub.Big surprise which he doesn’t know about yet.Turning to Hainn with a smile she said out loud, “Sure why not? I did want to see the coral reefs. There’s nothing like them in the lake—do you have similar habitats around the island where you were created?”

“We do but they’re different in composition and coloring,” he said. “And the sea life the reefs support differs of course. Did you bring your breather?”

For an instant she was confused by the question. “I won’t need it.”

“You’re sure? If you needed it in the lake you probably would want it here. The reefs I wanted to show you today are a couple hundred feet down, on a huge ledge jutting out from the side of the sea mount. I can ask Vindy to fly me to camp and see if I have a breather in my medkit.”

“There’s no need. I’ll be fine.”

Hainn seemed dubious but gave in and about half an hour later the flyer dropped the two of them off at a slightly different point than where the surfers assembled.

“Call me when you’re ready for pickup,” Stonor said as they stood at the edge of the ramp ready to slip into the water.

Hainn gave him a wave and then the flyer lifted up and away. Jezari motioned for Hainn to go first so he took two extra deep breaths and submerged. She followed closely behind as he descended toward the coral, which was a myriad of colors from red to orange to pink and surrounded by flowerlike growth and schools of fish. Jezari was enchanted by the tiny world of thereefs and could immediately see why the South Seas men were so dismissive of the freshwater lake.

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