She decided not to mention to Gryph that it had been a little baby girl.

Chapter 14

DAWN came late to the base of the river canyon. Gryph awakened in deep shadow. But he was stretched out on his back and when he looked straight up he could see the faint light in the strip of sky visible overhead. It was time to get moving. There was a lot of territory to cover.

But Sariana shifted slightly against him, her rounded hips nestling closer, and Gryph had several second thoughts about the virtues of rising early. He turned on his side and slid a hand under the rheenfeather quilt. It was cozy and warm underneath the lightweight quilt and the curve of Sariana's thigh was an invitation he couldn't resist. He was hard with his early morning arousal and the thought of sliding into Sariana's tight, clinging warmth was far more attractive than getting up and building a fire.

Sariana stirred at his touch and Gryph smiled in satisfaction. She knew and responded to him even in her sleep. Stealthily he eased apart her thighs and stroked the silky interior of her leg. She shifted delightfully but didn't waken.

Enjoying the game, Gryph gathered her closer. Her back was still turned toward him and she fit the natural curve of his body perfectly. When he explored further with his questing fingers he discovered she was warm and full and already slightly damp. He traced the outline of her body's entrance and she grew moister.

Gryph wailed no longer. He was ready and so was she, whether she knew it or not. This was morning, a tune for action, not a slow, lingering interlude. He positioned her hips and guided himself slowly between her legs from behind. When he entered her soft, feminine channel Sariana came awake with a rush.

"I think," she complained sleepily, "that you have just taken advantage of me." "I'm only evening the score from last night." Glyph locked his hands around her hips, guiding her into

the rhythm he wanted. "By the Lightstonn, you feel good first thing in the morning." He reached around to the front of her thighs and used his fingers to excite her further.

Sariana moaned and stopped complaining.

Lazy sensations of pleasure and gathering tension drifted in and out of Gryph's mind, mingling with his own driving urge. He no longer tried to hold back his own emotions. As far as he was concerned Sariana had surrendered her right to gentlemanly restraint on his part last night. Any woman who could turn into such an imperiously demanding, exciting creature of passion deserved to be hit with the full force of the response she invoked.

The memories of the night combined with the potent excitement of morning and Gryph's body drove into Sariana's one last, glorious time. His half stifled shout echoed from the canyon walls as he poured himself into her. Sariana's cry was much softer and more breathless but her climax seemed every bit as strong as his own. He could feel it subtly rippling through him even as his own swamped his senses for a long, sweet moment.

When it was finished Gryph inhaled deeply, feeling his natural energy rush back into him. He grinned privately and sat up. Then he ruthlessly yanked the travel quilt off Sariana and slapped her bare thigh. He was enjoying the sensation of possessiveness, he realized.

"Up you go, woman. I'm waiting for my breakfast."

Sariana grabbed for the quilt and snuggled back under it. "What happens if I tell you to fix your own breakfast?"

"I pick you up and drop you into the river for a refreshing early morning dip." "That's not much of a threat. I was going to bathe again this morning, anyway." "Ah, but there are subtle differences between a delicate sponge bath at the shoreline using water

heated over a fire and being dropped into a very chilly river," Gryph pointed out as he reached for his pants and boots.

"You are a cruel, heartless, ruthless man, Gryph Chas-syn." Sariana sat up slowly. "That's something I think we should talk about," Gryph announced, coming to a decision. He gazed

thoughtfully at the scarlet-toe as it uncurled slowly from the depths of Sariana's cloak and began nibbling at the small pile of leaves that Sariana had put out for its breakfast.

Sariana followed his gaze to the scarlet-toe and then looked, at Gryph questioningly. "You want to discuss your cruel, heartless and ruthless tendencies? This early in the morning?"

"No," said Gryph as he stepped over the side of the boat and waded toward shore. "I want to discuss the issue you raised so tactfully yesterday evening. The issue of my being a man."

He didn't bother to glance back as he went about building a fire and heating water for her morning bath. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. Nothing at all was seeping into his mind from her this morning.

Half an hour later, cloaked against the early morning chill, Sariana sat on the other side of the fire and sipped her laceleaf tea. She waited in silence for Glyph's explanations.

He lounged on a rock, wanning his hands around his mug and considered his intelligent, passionate,

unpredictable wife. He searched for the words he needed.

"You said you learned something about Shields yesterday," he finally began. "A few things," she admitted evasively.

"It was something that made you think I might not be as human as you are." He could feel his own grimness and wished he could control it better.

"I saw a portion of a play with Keri. It was a First Generation legend about the Shields saving the colonists on board The Serendipity."

"And you found yourself a chatty medic who implied a few things that also made you wonder who or what you had married." Gryph took a long swallow of tea. "Must have been a female medic," he muttered.

"It was, as a matter of fact."

Gryph gave her a level glance. "I told you last night that I'm as human as you are."

She returned his gaze. "Is it true the Shields weren't on board The Serendipity or is that just legend?" "It's true."

"Then where did your people come from, Gryph?" she asked quietly.

"What your people don't know, Sariana, or else they've forgotten, is that their ancestors weren't part of the first wave of human colonists that left the home planets and scattered into the galaxy. There was another wave of colonization that took place a hundred years earlier. My people are descended from that first wave."

Sariana sat tensely, her tea unfinished in her hand. "I've never heard of a previous attempt at colonization."

"I know. Your people were lucky just to hang on to a distorted version of their own history. It's no wonder they've lost all record of a previous history of other colonists. Even if the records did exist, no one would pay mem much attention. As far as my people are aware, no one on the home planets ever heard from that first wave again after the ships left the solar system. Most of the ships were beaded into this sector of the galaxy because the scientists had determined there was a cluster of star systems here that would be able to support human life. The odds of finding new homes seemed reasonably good in this sector. Since The Serendipity and The Rendezvous were both sent in this direction, too, we can assume that at the time of the second wave the home system scientists were still of the same opinion about the usefulness of planets in this area."