CRAVE (26 page)

“Hmmm. Well, I gotta get back. Serene is cracking the whip. Wants us all to take care of this band of fools that let the desert burn them alive.”

“They were wonderful, weren’t they?”

Trace grew serious. “Yes. It was something to see.”

Dandy smiled.

It wasn’t easy to get Crave’s clothes off by herself because Crave was a big male, but Dandy was determined to do it by herself. While she washed him, he dozed coming in and out of consciousness. She could tell when he went to sleep because of soft snoring.

When she’d cleaned him as much as possible without an actual dunking in water, she sent for some of the builders to come move him onto the other bed that was made up with clean sheets.

Three days later everybody was assembled and ready to cross the desert at first light. At maximum speed they’d make it to the other side before the sun climbed to cooking temps. They were pink, but the combination of Flora’s special salve and skirts or blankets of shade had mitigated the damage.

Crave’s crew got the worst of it because they were out in the open the longest. Flora thought they’d be okay in another few days, but if asked, all four would have said they had no regrets.

Crave was sitting up, eating solid food, and teasing Dandelion about wedding night rituals. Traditionally grooms were given a special herb that caused erections to last for hours.

Dandy didn’t leave his side except to bathe or bring tea with honey for his throat. His vocal cords had been abused by the wind and sand, and the honey seemed to help.

“Here,” she said as she handed over a steaming mug and sat down on the bed next to where he sat up against a pile of pillows.

“Dandy, I haven’t said I’m sorry.”

“Yes, you have, Crave. You said you were sorry with every step you took to get here. And, for the record, you didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“I did.”

“Okay.”

“I needed you to know that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Well, I’m glad you mentioned that because there’s something I want.”

“What?”

“I like working here. With these kids.”

Crave’s expression tightened. “Progeny of Rautt?”

She sighed. “They’re just children. They’re not responsible for anything their… For anything adults did.”

Crave searched her face. “This important to you?”

“It’s not a deal breaker. But yes. It’s important. Had you thought about what you want to do now that we’re not at war anymore? A peace time occupation?”

He nodded. “I like mechanics. They didn’t really need help with the bikes. But I heard that the humans have vehicles that run on a different kind of power. I’d like to see that.”

“Serene says these kids won’t be ready to move to Farsuitwail for a year. Maybe more. But my group, they’re the oldest ones, are going on a field trip soon. We’ll see how they react. Maybe they’ll make an adjustment faster than she thinks.”

“We need a place of our own.”

“Yeah. They could build us a place here. Something temporary.”

“I don’t know, Dandy.”

“Just meet my kids. Then you can decide.”

“Your kids?” He raised an eyebrow and didn’t look especially happy about the way she phrased that.

“It’s just an expression. They need somebody, Crave. They’re innocents.”

She saw that his nostrils flared when he looked away. She knew it might be an uphill battle and she knew why. She was prepared to give up working with the orphans if it was too much for Crave. Dandelion had her priorities sorted. Crave came first. End of story.

“Who’s that?” Crave lifted his chin toward the door, which was left open because there was a steady stream of well-wishers who wanted to say hello to Crave and see how he was doing.

Dandy followed his gaze. Half of Dread’s body was visible. The other half was hidden. “That’s Dread. He’s one of mine and he’s been wanting to meet you. Dread, this is Crave, the bravest and most beautiful male in the entire world.”

Crave looked at Dandy with eyes still too puffy to widen, but both eyebrows raised as if he couldn’t believe she’d made that claim.

Dread made no move after that impressive introduction.

Crave said, “Well, are you going to hide behind that door or are you going to show yourself like a man?” Dread blinked three times quickly before taking a step to the side so that he was fully visible front and center. Crave looked him over. The child was clearly alpha, but he was just as clearly an innocent, as Dandelion had said. Though he looked hard to see it, Crave didn’t find a monster lurking behind the boy’s face. He more resembled someone starving for attention.

“That’s better,” Crave said. Noticing the way Dread’s eyes kept sliding to Dandy, he said, “Do you have designs on my woman, boy?”

Dread stared Crave down, drew himself up to his full, if diminutive, height and said, “Maybe.”

Like Dandy had been the first time she heard it, Crave was surprised by the depth and richness of Dread’s voice, which was by no means in proportion to his size. Crave wondered if the kid was going to grow into those vocal cords. If he was, he’d be big enough to challenge Crave for his mate someday.

When Dandy heard Dread’s confession of admiration, she looked away and pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. When she glanced at Crave she was thrilled to see the old dancing twinkle in his eyes that she hadn’t seen there for so, so long.

“Well, forget it,” Crave said with authority. “She’s mine.”

Dread shrugged as if to say, “We’ll see.”

“So what do you do for a living, Dread?”

The child blinked and looked at Dandy. She smiled and nodded encouragement.

“I go to school.”

“That’s not much of an occupation. Do you play scruffal?”

Dread looked confused and shook his head. “I don’t know scruffal.”

Crave sounded incredulous. “You don’t know scruffal?” He looked at Dandy as if he couldn’t believe that children Dread’s age weren’t playing scruffal.

“Well, who would teach them, Crave? Certainly not me!” She laughed.

Crave nodded. “I have to admit that you coaching scruffal would be something to see. Is there a place to play?”

She thought about it for a minute. “Not really.”

Crave nodded, but looked thoughtful.

Sabre showed up at the door. “There you are!” she said to Dread. “Half the school’s been searching for you.”

It was clear that Dread was supremely unconcerned about that. He looked at Sabre as if she was an annoyance. “I was right here.”

Sabre peeked into the room, smiled at Dandy, then looked at Crave and said, “How are you?”

“Perfect,” he answered without hesitation.

She laughed. “Yeah? Well, that’s not how it looks from here.”

“Looks aren’t everything,” he said.

“True enough.” To Dread she said, “Say goodbye. And next time don’t just go running off without telling somebody you’re going.”

Dandy could tell by Dread’s reaction that he had absolutely no intention of complying, which made her turn her face into her shoulder and chuckle.

When they were gone, Crave said, “So that’s one of ‘your kids’, huh?”

“Yes. When I was waiting for you…”

“Waiting for me?”

“Um, when Charming told me you were coming, I got people to cover my jobs and went out on that big flat rock to wait. In the middle of the night, it was really cold. I guess you know that. Anyway, he’d snuck out of bed, gone to the kitchen and made me tea. He brought it to me and that’s the first time I ever heard him speak.”

“What did he say?”

“Well, he wanted to know what I was doing. I told him it was hard to explain, but did my best. Then he offered to go get you for me.” When Crave heard that, he took his eyes away from her, looked at the ceiling, took in a deep breath and let it out. “When I didn’t accept that offer, he wanted to build me a fire to keep me warm. I told him that the fire would keep me warmer, but I wouldn’t be able to see in the dark. He offered to stay to keep me company, but I sent him back to bed.”

Crave continued to look at the ceiling and didn’t say anything for a long time. “Are the others like that?”

“They’re like us. All different. Some are boisterous. Some are clowns. Some are quiet and shy. But all of them need us.”

“What do you think is going to happen when the day comes that they find out we killed all their people?”

“I don’t know. That’s a question you should ask Serene. Or Free. I just know that it was right to keep them alive. And they need us.”

“You said that.”

“I know.”

He looked over at her. “How many kids you got?”

He didn’t miss the smile that came over her face when she said, “Thirteen. Eleven-year-olds. Well, there’s one female who’s twelve.”

He grunted in acknowledgement. “Well,” he swung his left leg off the bed, “help me up so I can go take a look at the rest.”

Dandy froze with her mouth agape. He was moving into a sitting position on the side of the bed by the time she’d recovered enough to say, “That would be a big ‘no’. You’re not ready for ambulatory adventures, leader’s son. Just put those legs back on the bed and under the covers, where they belong.”

“Dandelion,” he said quietly, but firmly, “gettin’ up one way or another. Are you gonna help or are you gonna end up sittin’ on the floor on your ass because you’re in my way?”

“Ugh! You’re too weak to do a believable impression of a brute, Crave.”

“Yeah?” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “You want to bet? I say if you lose you have to ride my cock every day for the rest of your life.”

She laughed. “Okay. You win. Now that that’s decided, lay back and be a good boy.”

When she saw that he really was getting up with her or without her, she scrambled to duck down and get his big arm draped over her shoulder for support.

“Help me get my pants on, okay? We don’t want all the other females to go cold on their mates because of finding out what they’re missin’.”

She laughed along with him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t agree.

Twenty minutes later he was wearing olive khaki cargo pants, a soft clean, charcoal gray Henley, and boots a couple of sizes bigger to accommodate his swollen feet.

It was slow going, using his Promise as a human crutch, but Dandy was amazed that he’d healed so much in just three days. When they got to the exit, Flora met them on her way in to check on him.

“Oh, you’re up,” she said. “Good. I was going to insist that you have a stroll around this morning.”

Crave gave Dandy an I-told-you-so look. “Yeah? While you’re here, tell my woman I’m cleared for sex.”

“Hmmm,” Flora said. “I don’t see why not. Just listen to your body.”

He laughed quietly. “I always do.”

He was glad to be outside again. The morning still held a slight hint of chill from the night before.

“That’s the dining hall.” She pointed to the biggest building. “That’s the dorm. It’s divided into wards by age group and each group has a monitor who sleeps in the same room. I’m there in case somebody gets sick or has a bad dream. Or in case somebody won’t go to sleep and leave the others alone.”

“Show me,” he said.

“You want breakfast? Since you’re up, you might as well eat.”

He looked down and gave her a lopsided smile. “Sure. You got bacon? And cinnamon rolls?”

“Probably not. Oatmeal and raisins.”

“Oatmeal and raisins? How do you expect kids to grow strong with that crap?”

She laughed. “It’s not crap. It’s nutritionally sound. We had a human expert plan menus for us.”

“Humans,” he scoffed.

“Jerky? You got jerky?”

She shook her head, but said, “Maybe.”