She almost cried in relief when Jax finally stopped and released her hand, whispering, "I think we can afford to rest for a while here." Although she was grateful beyond words to the Familiar for helping her escape from Corinthon’s clutches, she couldn’t help but wonder if she would be able to keep up with him if he intended to keep this pace up for the rest of their journey.

Brenda staggered over to a large boulder that rested on the bank of the stream where they had stopped. Rubbing her wrist to relieve the ache, she took several deep breaths, drinking in the air gratefully. Jax came to stand beside her and gently pushed the hair back off her forehead.

Jax was breathing easily. The physical strain of running for hours with Corinthon’s guards in hot pursuit had barely phased him. He crouched before her, continuing to softly stroke her hair. "Rest, zira. We are safe here for a while. I think we’ve successfully confounded Corinthon’s men."

Brenda snorted. "I should think so. It feels like we’ve been running in circles for hours now."

Jax smiled and gave her a look of respectful approval. "Very good, Brenda. We did trace the path of a circle, several times over. It is designed to confuse and mislead a hunter."

Brenda looked up at him, finally able to speak without gasping. "How did you…." She stopped and waved a hand at him weakly. "Never mind. I already know. You know because you’re a Familiar and they’re great hunters….."

"…..which also makes us well-versed in ways to escape capture," Jax returned. "Very good. You are truly beginning to appreciate my talents, Brenda." He rose to his full height. "Although you have yet to appreciate ALL of my talents."

Brenda opened her mouth to object to his words, but before she could speak, Jax turned away from her and went to the stream. He squatted down and cupped his hands, dipping them into the water. He brought the water up and touched his lips with it, but then did not drink. As Brenda watched, he again dipped his hands into the stream, and then rose and came back to crouch before her. He held his cupped hands to her face. "For you. Drink, angel."

Brenda only hesitated a fraction of a second before she cupped her hands gratefully around his and raised them to her mouth. She felt a twinge of awkwardness in the intimacy of drinking from his hands, but then felt foolish for her concern. This man had already seen her unclothed, and had taken her most intimate secret from her at her request. He made her feel things she had never felt before in her life. As she raised her eyes to his and continued to drink, she felt as though he had given her life, in more ways than just making sure she didn’t die of thirst.

As his eyes locked with hers and she felt herself sinking under his spell again, she marveled at the tenderness of such a fierce warrior. Although he had dispatched the guards outside the cell quickly and efficiently, he cared so much for her that he made sure she had clean water to drink before he satisfied his own thirst. The realization that he was probably thirsty too suddenly hit Brenda and she pulled away and pushed his hands towards his own lips. "You drink, too, Jax," she said in a whisper. "I’m fine now."

Nodding his understanding, Jax drank the rest of the water in his hands and then returned to the stream for more. As she sat on the boulder observing him, she could not help but notice his feline grace. Obviously there was a reason that the Familiar’s alternate life form was a cat. Jax moved with a quiet ferocity. He was barefoot, but she had the feeling that even if his feet were clad in leather as hers were, he would make no noise as he moved through the grasslands. As they had woven from side to side, evading capture, he had never faltered when they shifted direction.

In the glittering light cast by three of Charporta’s moons that night, Brenda was almost rendered breathless by his broad shoulders and bare chest. She remembered the feeling of being cradled against that chest when she jumped from the window ledge. As Jax stooped down to the stream again, Brenda continued to admire the beauty of his physical form as he splashed water from his cupped hands on his face.

Brenda grew curious as he straightened, looked to the side, and then reached out to pick something up off the ground. He came back to her carrying the pods of some hydrale flowers. Hyrdale flowers often grew near sources of water and had large, gourd shaped flowers. They had no fragrance and were not attractive by any stretch of the imagination, but once the flowers were dried, the pods could be useful for many purposes. The pulp inside the living flower could slack the thirst with the water it retained, and Brenda had heard rumors that it also provided mystical healing to those in suffering.

Jax crouched before her. "These are hydrale flowers, aren’t they?"

Brenda nodded. "They grow here on Charporta near streams and rivers. Do you have them also on Meer’an?"

Jax nodded. "They grow abundantly, but are much larger on Meer’an. They are prized by the wizards for their healing capabilities." Jax smirked. "My own mother used to brew the pulp and use it to flavor a stew that I frequently devoured." His face grew serious again. "We should gather some of these. They can be a valuable water source for us while we make our way to the Tunnel point."

"Why can’t we just stop in a village and ask for water? Many Charportans will recognize me and wouldn’t hesitate to grant me a simple request of water." Brenda was totally innocent, Jax realized.

He took her hand gently. "Zira, Corinthon’s men will be everywhere trying to find us. When they cannot locate us on their own, I’m sure they won’t hesitate to stoop to bribery of Charportans to get what they want." His face was grim. "And although I’m sure that your people do love you, some of them no doubt could be swayed by the sight of a fat purse of rarified gems." He stood. "We won’t be able to rely on the kindness of villagers for our water supply." He turned over a flower in his hand. "We can dry some of these pods and carry a water supply with us."

He turned from her and went back to the stream’s edge to begin gathering the flowers. Brenda shifted on the rock, noticing an ache between her legs that had been bothering her for a few hours. As she watched Jax gather the flowers, she shrugged off her cloak, stretching her sore body in the moonlight. When she looked down at her lap, she saw the blood stains on her gown again. Her legs felt sticky, and after glancing up to make sure Jax was still occupied, she lifted the hem of her gown to investigate.

She probably never heard herself gasp. Dried blood from her encounter in the jail cell with Jax clung to the insides of her upper thighs. It was not heavy or thick, but it still bore evidence of the fact that she was no longer a maiden. She touched it gingerly, and a silent tear rolled down her cheek. Her mother had often praised the virginal state. Brenda wiped away the tear with the back of her hand. Had it not been for Corinthon’s evil plan, she would never have had to surrender her innocence.

"Are you in pain?" Jax’s tender voice startled her. She looked up quickly and found him standing in front of her again, his arms filled with hydrale flowers and some dried gourds he had found on the banks of the stream. Jax put the flowers down on the ground as he crouched before her again. She tried to cover her thighs again with her gown, but Jax stopped her hand with his. "I asked if you were in pain," he repeated gently. "It would be understandable if you were."

Had the moonlight been brighter, Jax would have seen her blush. "Not pain – just some discomfort." Jax gave her a curious look. "I should…..bathe," she explained further.

Jax nodded as the understanding came to him. He let go of her hand, and reached for the hem of her gown. It had ripped in several places during their flight, and when he found a piece of fabric that was almost severed, he pulled it with his hands until it separated from the gown. Jax glanced back up at her, his eyes overflowing with compassion. Brenda watched as he crushed one of the hydrale flowers in his hand over the gown’s remnant, thoroughly soaking it with the moisture the flower had retained. After putting the flower aside, he took her gown in his hand and began to push it up, revealing her blood-stained thighs.

Jax’s eyes were locked with hers the entire time he worked. Although Brenda inhaled sharply when he began to swab her thighs, cleaning the blood from them, his tenderness and caring overwhelmed her so much that she allowed him to continue. He worked slowly and gently, massaging the aching muscles as he continued to wash away any traces of the blood.

When his hand moved higher between her legs, Brenda momentarily stiffened and tried to close her legs to him. "No," she whispered raggedly. "You shouldn’t."

Jax froze and looked into her eyes. "I should do this more than anyone else, zira," he crooned, and then smiled gently. "I am the cause of your …..discomfort."

Brenda grimaced, but relaxed a little as Jax continued his ministrations. "Corinthon’s greed forced me to this." Her eyes grew cold. "I’ll hate Corinthon until the day I die for all he’s done."

Jax continued cleansing her body, an act he considered totally nonsexual in nature, but that was intimate nonetheless. "I’m sure that your mate will understand someday, Brenda. Any man that would be lucky enough to be your mate would never be so cruel and selfish to think you were somehow "spoiled goods.""

Jax had finished, and he rose to his feet. "No, you don’t understand," Brenda said as he went back to near the stream and began to dig in the soft ground, burying the cloth and any sign of their presence. "I never intend to take a mate."

Jax’s head shot up. "Never? Why not?"

"Taking a mate will deprive me of what I want most in this world," Brenda said adamantly.

"And that would be?" Jax settled down onto the ground near the stream, sitting cross-legged.

"Freedom," Brenda replied. "If I were to take a mate, I would never be free to explore the world the way I am drawn to. I would never be free to live my life as I wish." She looked at him pointedly. "This is MY nature as a Torengi, Jax. You have your Familiar nature, I have mine."

"And you are sure that taking a mate would deprive you of this wonderful commodity, freedom?" Jax put his hands behind him and reclined as he explored his angel’s thinking.

"I saw what it did to my mother," Brenda said bitterly. "She was miserable, even though she loved Morenon." She looked down into her lap. "At least, she SAID she loved him."

Jax rose, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Maybe it was not her ties to Morenon as mate that made her so miserable, Brenda." He began to unlace his breeches again. "Don’t the Torengi mate?"

"Most of them," Brenda answered absently, watching in fascination as Jax deftly unlaced the leather binding. Why was the man taking his pants off again?

He quickly shed the breeches and rubbed his hands along his naked thighs that glistened in the moonlight. Brenda opened her mouth to speak, but then Jax started walking towards her. "Then if many of the Torengi DO mate, obviously it’s not against their nature." He stopped before her and reached out a finger to touch the first swell of her left breast. "I believe that mating has only to do with the heart, zira. Loving your mate only enslaves your heart, not your spirit." His finger began to trace small, lazy circles there, just above the neckline of her gown, and Brenda began to breathe faster.

"What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly, then clearing her throat. "I mean, why are you…." She gestured up and down with her hand, indicating his entire body.

Jax smiled knowingly. "I need to bathe too, my tigress." He backed away from her. "The scent of Corinthon’s dungeon clings to me." He stopped just at the stream. "I would offer you the same opportunity, but….." He gestured towards the stream, but Brenda shook her head violently.

"NO! You go ahead!" Brenda replied. She had once shed her gown for Jax, but for some curious reason, she felt more self-conscious and shy around him now than she did when he was a total stranger.

Jax grinned. "I thought so." He waded into the water and immersed himself completely. As he broke the surface of the water, he used both hands to skim his hair back from his face. The moonlight shone on the stream, and Brenda caught her breath at the sight of him. The corded muscles in his arms stood out in sharp relief as he moved his hands away from his face and back down into the water to splash himself. He scrubbed vigorously at his arms and then lifted a muscled leg to receive the same treatment.

After he ducked below the water again to rinse himself, Jax slowly made his way to shore. Brenda watched him the entire time, and to her dismay, Jax caught her watching him. His eyes burned her where they touched, finally locking with hers. She could not look away, no matter how she tried. He began walking slowly towards her, the water still running down his perfect nude body in rivulets. Brenda could feel herself starting to breathe faster and felt a strange tingling in parts of her body that Jax had just cleansed.

When he stood directly in front of the rock where she still perched, she saw his eyes were beginning to twinkle with the violet fireworks again. "Jax," she stammered, "I…..I told you back at the fortress……We’re not going to …..I don’t want you to ……." Jax leaned forward, placing one hand on either side of her on the rock. The heat from his body began to envelop her, as well as the faint scent of zilliang spice. It wasn’t the hypnotic haze that had overcome her inhibitions in the cell, but it was still intoxicating.

He brought his lips to nearly touch hers. "You forget, Brenda. Keeping promises is not the only quality unique to Familiars. They never lie, and they can tell when another person is lying." He closed the distance between them, rubbing his lips sensuously against hers while his breath commingled with hers. "And you, zira, are lying." He glanced down at her breasts. "Because you DO want…..very much, in fact."

Brenda broke with his gaze to glance down at her breasts. To her horror, she saw that the peaks were standing full and hard against the soft fabric of her gown. "That’s……that’s just because they’re cold," she said in a small voice.

Jax smiled at her smugly, rubbing her lips with his again. "Liar," he said softly, right before he lowered his lips to hers to kiss her thoroughly. His hands remained planted on either side of her while hers grasped at thin air, reaching out for something to hang onto while she swirled in the maelstrom his kiss was creating in her body.

Brenda felt herself sinking under his spell again and she finally grasped his forearms to steady herself. Jax continued to explore and claim her lips. He pulled back only the distance of a breath of air, and then sent a heated thought to her.

Brenda gasped at the thought and Jax seized the opportunity to slide his tongue past her lips. Brenda thought she was drowning in the pleasure he was creating kissing her before, but when he began to trace her teeth with his tongue, a whimper worked its way up her throat. As he leaned in closer and licked the inside of her mouth, making light, teasing stabs at her tongue, she let the whimper come out as a full-fledged moan.

Jax smiled inwardly as Brenda’s passionate nature began to surface. He had been looking forward to initiating her into the pleasures of sexual union before, but that was before he realized just how truly responsive she was. Now, he felt himself being drawn under her spell just as much as she was under his. He knew he had to stop this foreplay. He didn’t want Corinthon’s men to be breathing down their necks when he showed her the heavenly pleasure he knew they could reach together.

With strength that he never knew he possessed, Jax pulled away from Brenda. Her eyes were still closed, and when she opened them, he saw a mixture of disappointment and hungry desire that boded well for the future. He straightened up slowly, but not before rubbing one thumb across her kiss-swollen lips. Brenda inhaled sharply when she felt electrical sparks there at his touch. He turned to go back to where his pants lay at the side of the stream.

Brenda’s breathing was slowing down to normal, but she still couldn’t tear her eyes away from this magnificent man. He confused her, he infuriated her, and yet he made her feel sexual desire she had never imagined possible. As he pulled the leather pants back on, she realized that he was doing it in a deliberately slow, teasing manner. He knew she was watching him, and as he began to lace them up, he kept his gaze locked with hers. She shook her head to clear it and tried to speak, hoping to break this erotic moment. "So – then what about Familiars?" He raised his eyebrows in question, not understanding her meaning. "Do they mate?"

He gave her a dimpled grin. "Of course we do, zira. It is one of the things we do best!" His arrogant teasing was back.

She put her balled fists to her hips. "That isn’t what I meant!" She let out a long sigh. "I mean, do they take ONE mate – a lifelong partner? Someone to whom they remain faithful?"

"Ahh, now I see," Jax said in understanding, coming to sit on the ground before her. "Familiars revel in the pleasures of the flesh, but when we take a mate, we are bound to that mate forever. We remain faithful and enjoy the pleasures of making love with only that mate. It is a bond we consider sacred, never to be broken."

Brenda nodded but then suddenly her eyes became wide with anxiety. "Oh, Jax," she said, her hands flying to her mouth and tears starting to form in her eyes. "When I asked you to help me in the dungeon……I didn’t know…. I would have never asked you to break a sacred oath…."

Jax realized the source of her anxiety and he rose to sit next to her on the boulder. He took her chin between his fingers. "You do not need to concern yourself, angel. I had not taken a mate yet at the time when you asked me to help you, as you put it," he said with a soft smile. He took one finger from her chin and began to trace a line from her one temple to the other across her forehead. "Familiars also have the very unusual gift of being able to know their true mate. When a Familiar meets his or her true mate, they realize it immediately."

Brenda closed her eyes as the pattern his finger was tracing was again beginning to weave his spell around her. She recognized the scent – the warm musk of Jax’s clean body heat combined with his sensual essence. She now knew what it was becoming – the scent that could make her desire him beyond anything else in the universe. If Brenda had opened her eyes, she probably would have been amazed by the look in his eyes. The tender, possessive look that he reserved for only one woman in his life – his true mate.

Jax trailed his finger down to her chin and then tapped her lightly there, and she opened her eyes to find him smiling calmly. She cleared her throat. "Do Familiars only mate among themselves?"

Jax nodded. "Most of the time. Not only because of our passionate appetites and desires, but also because of the offspring." Now it was Brenda’s turn to look confused. Jax settled himself on the rock next to her. "You see, if a Familiar male takes a non-Familiar female as his mate, the likelihood of a Familiar child is fairly slim. There has only been one case that I ever heard of where a child with Familiar qualities was born of such a pairing."

Jax looked up at the stars and then at the area around them. As Brenda was about to say something, he held up one hand, signaling for her silence. "Corinthon’s men are gaining on us. We must be on our way again."

He jumped off the boulder and held a hand out to Brenda. She gave a long sigh, and Jax reached to tenderly push the hair back from her forehead. "I know you are fatigued, zira. We will try to rest when we are off Corinthon’s family’s property and closer to the Tunnel Point."

Brenda nodded and placed her hand in Jax’s outstretched one. Before she could draw a breath, he had grasped her wrist again and they were off on the silent breeze of the night.

*~*~*~*

The old woman slowly pushed her cart through the fortress gates. Morenon had been an attentive mate to Brenda’s mother, but his rule had been less than beneficent to the inhabitants of Charporta. Veronica had often tried to temper his cruelty, and the Charportans recognized that and loved her for it. They looked forward to the day when Brenda would rule and bring her mother’s kindness to the throne.

Many of the Charportans were forced to resort to scavenging for food late at night. The fortress was one of the favorite places to find refuse that was still relatively edible. "Waste" was not a word that was familiar to Corinthon, although it was a common occurrence in his kitchen.

The guards turned away most of the scavengers, but one night a soft-hearted guard let the old woman pass through the gate. Ever since that night, she had been allowed into the fortress to seek food for her large brood of offspring. She pushed the cart slowly, her back bent at a permanent angle from years of hard labor.

As she made her way towards the refuse heap, she stopped momentarily when she heard a rustling noise. Her keen eyes searched the heap for one of the small animals that she frequently had to fight off with an old axe handle. As she pulled the wooden handle from the cart and stood at the ready to defend her food supply, she heard the rustling again, this time accompanied by a soft whimper.

As she drew closer to the refuse heat, axe handle still in hand, she heard the whimper again. Her eyes narrowed. It almost sounded human. She transferred the stick to her right hand and began poking gently at some of the refuse on the top of the heap. As she pushed aside the remnants of Corinthon’s latest feast, the rustling noise became more distinct.

She became even braver and set the stick down slowly, moving closer to the pile. She placed both hands on a large pile of slats that had come from broken-down wooden furniture and gave it a large push. When she leaned in closer to see the source of the rustling, her hands flew to her mouth in horror.

It WAS human – or had been at one time. Charportans were well-acquainted with the reputation of Corinthon’s dungeon. Obviously this poor creature had had the misfortune of being one of its residents. Its body was battered almost beyond recognition. The old woman could barely tell that at one time the human had been a male.

She leaned in closer and heard it whimper again. Ever the good Samaritan, she whispered softly, "Can you hear me? Do you want me to help you?" She reached down to find a bruised hand, and when she felt a faint squeeze, she took that for an affirmative reply.

She spun quickly and brought her cart closer to the heap. She leaned down close to what she guessed had been the creature’s ear. "I’ll help you as much as I can, lad, but you need to help me a little. I’m going to try to get you into my cart. This will probably cause you even more pain, but once we’re back at my cottage, I’ll be able to tend to your wounds."

She felt another squeeze of her hand, and somehow the creature managed to rouse itself from the pile. She put her arm under his shoulders and with a tremendous heave, he was in the cart. Even though his face was battered and mutilated, she could see pain etched there. She shook her head at the abuse Corinthon handed out to Charportans and non-Charportans alike.

"Now, lad, I’ll need to cover you with this tarp until we’re past the gate. Not too much more suffering." She saw just the hint of a nod, and she covered him quickly. Quickly gathering some scraps of food, she turned the cart around and made her way back to the gate.

The guards saw her approaching and opened the gate. "Extra security tonight, gentlemen?"

The guard nodded. "An important prisoner escaped, old woman. Corinthon is scouring the countryside looking for him."

As she cleared the gate and heard it close behind her, she smiled to herself. She pulled back the tarp. "The stars are smiling on us tonight, lad. Corinthon’s monsters are so occupied searching for the escaped prisoner that they will not notice that my cart is more heavily laden than usual."

Lukathan held his silence until they were well past the gates of the fortress. As the old woman patted him gently, he finally let out all the anguish he had been holding in since his capture.

*~*~*~*

Jax stopped short, pulling Brenda beside him into the shadow of a tree. She was glad of the opportunity to rest, but when she looked at his face, she was frightened by the anxiety.

"What is it? Are they close by?"

Jax frowned and shook his head, momentarily dropping her hand as he massaged his temples. He had felt the shiver go down his spine – the shared pain of another Familiar. But as quickly as it came, it vanished into the night. He looked down at her worried brown eyes, soft as the ronslow skins that wrapped Familiar babies. "There is nothing to worry about, zira," he said softly, stroking the side of her cheek with his finger. "I will make sure to get us both off of Charporta safely."

Brenda smiled. "I believe you," she replied in a whisper, and Jax reached down to take her hand and continue their flight.

To be continued……