Forest Whispers Read Online Free PDF

the rougher
terrain would slow them, it seemed the trail was the best bet.
    “ What is that you eat?”
    Lana looked up at Corin in surprise.
“Food.”
    He frowned. “It looks the same.”
    “ Same as what?”
    “ That you ate this
morning.”
    Lana looked down at the bar. “I guess it
does.” She thought it over for a moment. “I guess it is the same. I
hadn’t really thought about it. It’s field rations—perfectly
balanced to meet nutritional requirements … for humans.” She broke
off a piece and handed it to him.
    He looked it over skeptically, sniffed it,
and finally popped it into his mouth and chewed.
    His expression was priceless.
    Lana chuckled.
    He shuddered as he swallowed. “Dirt has more
taste.”
    Lana looked him over with amusement. “I
don’t eat it for taste. I eat it to keep strong and stay physically
fit.”
    A faint smile curled his lips in response,
but his gaze was assessing. “You live much like a warrior. Did you
choose this?”
    Lana wasn’t really surprised by the
question, all things considered, but she was far less amused. “Not
only did I choose it, I worked damned hard to get where I am. Even
where I’m from it isn’t enough for a woman to be as good as a man
at her job. A woman has to prove she’s better than most.” She shook
her head in disgust. “Women have been trying to reach a point where
they’re treated as equals for hundreds of years now—I’m thinking
it’s never going to happen.”
    He frowned. “You do not value men.”
    It wasn’t a question. The statement
irritated her, but she stopped and considered before she answered.
“It would be more accurate to say that, in a general way, I don’t
trust them … especially not if they’re in a position of power over
me. Mostly, I just don’t give men much thought at all, or feel one
way or another about them, but there are some, at least, who have
great value to me … some I admire, respect … love. So, if you’re
suggesting I hate men—I don’t.”
    It occurred to her that he’d been acting
just a tad miffed all day and she wondered if whatever it was that
was eating him was behind the remark. It might have been nothing
more than an observation based on her verbal irritation about the
way she’d been treated since her arrival on Ata Prime, but she had
a feeling it went a little deeper.
    Thinking back to the night before, there
were only two possibilities that came to mind that might be
responsible. The fact that she’d caught him by surprise, which she
didn’t doubt had wounded his ego, and the possibility that he
hadn’t particularly liked the fact that she’d initiated the sex and
pretty much controlled it thereafter despite his earnest attempts
to wrest control of the situation from her.
    When she looked up, she saw that he was
giving her a steady look.
    “ No one likes being used.”
    She flushed guiltily but managed an off
handed shrug as she got to her feet. “Sorry. You seemed willing
enough. I was under the impression men liked hot, raunchy,
meaningless sex.”
    “ As long as both parties understand
that that is all that it is, and agree to it, it has value and a
meaning of its own.”
    The comment pissed her off, mostly because
she knew he was right. If it was true that she tended to lump men
together as if they weren’t individuals and despised them in
general because of certain traits that were widely shared—which
they were—that still didn’t make it right to assume everyone was
the same and treat them accordingly. And the worst of it was that
she realized she was no better than those who had, in the distant
past, treated her that way.
    She sighed gustily. “I apologize.”
    He glanced at her in surprise.
    She smiled wryly, shouldering her pack.
“You’re right. I made an assumption and I shouldn’t have. From now
on when I want hot, meaningless sex, I’ll make sure the guy knows
that’s what I’m looking for.”
    He looked first taken aback and then
angry.
    Lana