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with him.
    “We’ve been on patrol of the border even before this pirate
issue came up,” Jagger said. “How are you feeling?”
    “I’m not hurting. I’m a little stiff, but that’s normal and
better than I hoped. I’m sure that it would hurt if I went running, but I’m not
going to do that.” Ada curled her arm around his back.
    Ada silently acknowledged that she was understating the
stiffness. She’d pay for the walk later, but it would be worth it to be with
him. As for pain, pressing on the bruises or her ribs caused a jab of
discomfort, but she didn’t think they were going to get into a heavy clinch,
not from the way things were going so far. Not that she’d object. She wanted to
slip her fingers beneath his shirt and see if his body was as hard and corded
beneath his clothing as it looked.
    “You tell me if it begins to hurt. I’ll get you back to
camp.” He sent her a stern glance.
    Who knew someone that big could worry so much over injuries
he hadn’t even seen? She suppressed a smile. It was endearing.
    “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Are we going to walk on or
rest here?” She raised a brow at him. As much as she liked the view, she wanted
to walk. At least then she got to lean against him as they moved.
    “How about we walk over that way and sit in the shade?” He
pointed across the grassy clearing to another group of trees. “I have water and
a couple of pieces of fruit.”
    “Where did you get fruit?” She glanced at the bag. “Are you
sure it’s safe?”
    “Yes, I’m sure. It’s one of the most common fruits. We still
call it the kisla fruit, but I think in most United Systems areas it’s
called the pini .” He frowned as he thought for a moment. “As for where,
I told you I sent men out looking for fresh food.”
    Now, she knew what he was talking about. The name kisla for a fruit had drawn a blank with her, but pini she knew was a bright
red oval fruit. It was delicious and it seemed to grow on most worlds.
    “Those will be good. Sitting in the shade sounds great.” She
nodded and strolled beside him to the small group of trees.
    He pulled a blanket from the pack. While he spread the
covering over the grass, she stood off to the side until he waved her over. He waited
until she took a seat before settling in beside her. Now that she was sitting,
an ache started in her ribs. It wasn’t anywhere near the pain of yesterday, but
she took a deep breath and straightened trying to find a comfortable position.
She leaned to the side a bit, bracing herself on an arm and moved her legs, but
couldn’t quite find a posture that would ease the discomfort.
    “Is something wrong?” He looked sharply at her, a frown
pulling his brows down.
    She debated whether to push aside his concerns. After all,
there wasn’t anything physically wrong. She’d been warned that there might be
some discomfort and would have been surprised if there wasn’t. It would go away
over the next few days. Nothing had been broken. Her ribs merely bruised by a
few of the blows delivered by those damn pirates.
    “It’s just my ribs. Walking is all right, but sitting down,
I have a hard time finding a comfortable position.” She sighed, a little
irritated by the discomfort and the fact that it was interrupting what had been
a promising afternoon with him.
    He considered her for a moment. “Why don’t you try leaning
against me? We can try different positions until you find one that lets you
relax.”
    “Are you sure?” She looked up at him.
    “Yes, come on. I want you to be thinking of something else
other than your side.” He held his arms wide.
    At first, she tried simply leaning into him on his side but
couldn’t find a position that eased the ache in her ribs. She just shook her
head at him. It hadn’t been so bad at the table. She’d leaned a little forward
and braced an arm on the table. The odd position had helped. She’d eaten as
quickly as she could to shorten the