Lovers in the Woods Read Online Free PDF Page B

crossed. I didn’t exaggerate when I said it’s
dangerous.”
    “ Still, you’re not riding away
screaming.”
    “I tried, but you caught me.”
    He watched her beautiful face and wanted
to kiss her. The emotion was like an assault and he denied himself
any reaction. She was afraid, she relied on him, and she pleaded
with her eyes that he would not leave her. The sum of those
feelings made his innards cringe. He had been alone for a long time
and yearned to be with a woman again. Rayenne had only been able to
seduce him at the town’s bar because he was sick of being alone. If
she had not turned out to be a police officer, she would have been
a fine choice. Though he now knew her profession, he wanted to hold
and protect her and tell her that she would be okay with him. At
the same time he wanted to get rid of her and the threat she
posed.
    He turned away from her, heart
pounding. What’s wrong with me? I should have left her and been on my
way!
    “I’ve been in the woods sometimes.” He
shrugged, pretending listlessness. “The Horlyns don’t show up in
great numbers and other predators are shyer still. I believe in the
theory that they won’t harm you if you don’t come with the purpose
of harming them.”
    “But if people cut down trees—”
    “ The lumberjacks were no threat to them in
the beginning. The few trees at the wood’s edge could be put up
with, but now, as they enter deeper regions from the north and
west, there’ll be more losses of men and machines. It has already
happened and will happen again.”
    “You sound like one of the green activists
who want to call off any cutting.”
    Again, Sajitar shrugged. He’d
had this conversation with many people, even if he had helped them
find trees. “Wouldn’t it be better? There’s
no need for any rich man to have furniture made of Belthraine’s
famous trees. They look marvellous, yes, but furniture can be made
of so many different kinds of wood and other
material —it’s just arrogance and bragging
to have such specialties in your living room.”
    “The wood really is beautiful. I heard that
it’s because of some chemistry that works behind the bark.”
    “ No.” He cleared his throat when she looked
at him quizzically. He did not want to sound like a teacher. “There
were chrysalis remnants found in the trunks, which means the
Horlyns use the trunks as a kind of nursery. The chrysalises live
off the trees’ minerals until they bite their way through and
leave.”
    “I never thought them to be so small in the
beginning.”
    Sajitar bit on his lips to avoid smiling
about her naïveté. “We don’t know much about the evolution of the
Horlyns. Who even knows if that’s a correct name for
them?”
    “ But you know some
things.” She pushed away a small branch that tickled her face. “You
sound as if you ’ve dealt with these beasts before.” Dark orange
leaves fell off and gently rested on her hair and shoulders,
crowning her features.
    Sajitar wanted to paint a picture of this
fine combination of beauties. He wanted to look away from her face
but could not. A moment later, a thicker branch hit his shoulder.
He flinched and tried his best to ignore Rayenne’s smile. When the
way was clear again, he went on.
    “ My grandparents came to
Belthraine to start anew. They had lived in a big city before and
searched for a planet where rural meant you really lived alone and did not have to
meet anyone.” He smiled at the memory. His parents and grandparents
were simple people with simple plans for life. There had been times
when he regretted he hadn’t inherited all their principles. “My
grandfather used to say that even a coach with two people was too
much for him. He called people a disturbance of his peace. When the
settlements grew he thought about moving away, deeper into the
woods. But the events —I mean the clashes with the Horlyns, and there were more
than we know of — changed his mind. He was a settler after all, not