Page 42 of Hot Zone

Rustam commented mildly, “Who ever said I fight fair? I fight to win, my dear.”

And darned if she wasn’t half hoping he did win, tonight. Was there actually such a thing as sex so fantastic she would beg for more?

Rustam chuckled beside her, as if he’d picked the thought out of her head. “What?” she asked him a tad crankily.

“I’ve already won, Tessa. Stop fretting about it and enjoy your defeat.”

“Arrogant man.”

He smiled unrepentantly. “And yet you want me, anyway.”

She resorted to rolling her eyes because to disagree with him would be a bold-faced lie, and he would hear it in her voice.

There was no sense feeding his ego until his head exploded from it.

By the time the last streaks of sunset faded in the west and the sky began to turn dark blue overhead, she felt as if she were going to explode.

Rustam declared that they’d made good time today, and that the horses really did need a solid night’s rest. He stopped in a narrow sandstone gully that held them close in its embrace.

She unsaddled and groomed Cygna, carefully checking the horse’s feet for stones and bruises before turning her loose to graze beside Polaris. As tall as the mare was, she was dwarfed by the mighty stallion.

When she approached, Polaris struck lightning fast, teeth bared, and bit the mare on the neck, then used his weight to shove her closer to the spring trickling down the stone wall behind him.

Tessa lurched forward to defend her mount, but Rustam’s calm voice stopped her.

“He won’t hurt her. He’s just reminding her who’s in charge.”

Would Rustam do that with her? Dominate her without hurting her, to remind her that he was in charge?

The man maddeningly gave no hint of his plans but went about the business of laying a small fire with deadwood he pulled from the stand of olive trees clustered around the spring.

Meanwhile, Tessa spread out their bedrolls on opposite sides of the fire. She caught the glint of humor in his eyes at the arrangement, but he said nothing.

She dug in her packs for hard bread and dried meat and fruit.

“Save that,” Rustam told her. “I’ve got a barley stew mix we can cook. And since we can have a fire tonight, we should use it. We’ll need those dry provisions later when we cannot build fires.”

She did as he suggested, commenting, “You can cook, too? You’re a man of many talents.”

His glance suggested that she had yet to plumb the depths of his talents, and her pulse took off, racing erratically.

While the stew cooked, he inspected the horses, running his hands slowly over them. Both animals seemed more animated and at ease when he’d finished. It crossed Tessa’s mind to wonder if he was healing them, somehow.

It was odd the way she just accepted his gifts. She’d met some powerful psychics at Project Anasazi, but Rustam’s talent was off the charts. She would love to take him back to Arizona when it was time to go home, to let Athena study him. She would bet the professor would be thrilled to meet someone of his ability.

He came back to the fire as the pot was beginning to bubble. He stirred some salt from a small leather pouch into the stew, and they sat in silence while it finished cooking. Twilight washed away the vivid streaks of color from the rocks around them, fading them to muted gray.

When the tantalizing smell of the stew had her stomach growling, Rustam finally ladled up a steaming bowl for her. She gazed down at bits of vegetables and meat in a surprisingly thick broth. It tasted great, but then hunger was, indeed, the best seasoning. The first bowl made her feel human again. The second made her feel like a new person.

Out of the blue, Rustam said, “How about a warm bath?”

She exclaimed, “Are you serious?”

“The spring trickles into a stone basin over there, then overflows to form the stream. The basin is big enough to hold a person, but shallow enough to warm up considerably during the day. The horses have had their share, and I’ve already filled our water skins for tomorrow. Go take a bath in the basin. It should have cooled off to a comfortable temperature by now.”

He didn’t need to invite her twice.

She headed for the sound of running water and spotted the knee-deep natural basin easily. Steam was beginning to rise from it as the evening air began to cool. A faint sulfur smell arose, but who was going to be picky about that? It was a bath! It was deep enough that if she sat down in it, she would be up to her waist in water, which was more than adequate for a lovely soak.

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