Intolerable.

Her breath catching, Kirsten runs her hands up Koda’s arms, over her shoulders and up into her hair, pulling her head down. Dakota’s mouth meets hers, hot and open, and Kirsten’s tongue traces the austere lines of the other’s lips, savoring the heat and the acerbic tang of salt. Koda pulls back abruptly, lowering her head to Kirsten’s throat to trace a line of hard kisses from her ear to the hollow of her collarbones.

She can feel the heat of Dakota’s skin through her clothing, the hardness of her nipples through the thin fabric of her T-shirt. Fire begins in the cleft between her legs, licks down her thighs and up her spine, knotting in her belly. "Bedroom," she gasps, pulling back just enough to move, drawing Koda after her by the hand.

Dakota growls deep in her throat. The scent of blood on the clothes at her feet stirs her; a primal, animal sensation that is equal parts rage and lust.

The lust of the battle she’s fought.

The lust of the blood she’s spilled.

The lust of the woman who stands before her, so open and so ready.

It all coalesces within her, a spiral of red and black, pulsing with the beat of her heart, growing more acute as the scent of blood mingles with the scent of Kirsten’s need, and the scent of her own. It pulls each muscle taut, tension thrumming like a live wire, threatening to burn out of control with the tiniest of sparks.

Pausing only to kick the pile of bloody clothing out of view into the bathroom, Kirsten leads Dakota into the bedroom that has become theirs. Like a distant drum, Koda feels the pounding of her blood in its hidden channels, flowing hot as molten earth from the veins of Ina Maka. As she moves, Kirsten’s free hand claws at the fastening of her jeans, pushing them down around her ankles where she can step free of them. Her sandals follow, and she looses Dakota’s hand just long enough to pull her shirt over her head, flinging it unheeded onto the floor.

"You hunger," Kirsten states as she stares up into a face haloed with black silk and lighted by heated silver eyes.

"Yes."

"Show me."

Fully naked, Dakota presses her roughly down onto the bed and stands for a long moment, taking in the compact body before her. Her sight narrows, hunter vision, and she runs her eyes over Kirsten’s face, open now with hunger to match her own, eyes dilated to midnight pools in their thin rim of green. She notes the pool of shadow at the base of the throat where the pulse beats visibly in its blue vein; her breasts rising and falling in short, sharp spasms, tight rippled flesh about her nipples; the hollows of ribcage and belly; the shadows between the lean legs. "Mitawa," she growls, low in her throat. "Winan mitawa."

She kneels on the bed, predator, hunter, running one hand over the Kirsten’s belly, tracing the hollows of her hipbones, slipping between her thighs. The pulse beats there, too, against her hand as Kirsten’s legs part for her and she runs her thumb through the soft curling hair to spread the lips of her lover’s sex. The wetness flows free there, and she growls, deep and long.

She feels Kirsten’s body jerk as she finds the nub of her clitoris, circling it slowly, pressing hard against its own hardness. Her mouth follows, and Kirsten moans, a low, animal sound, as her hands tangle in Koda’s hair. Dakota scarcely feels it, caught up in the throbbing of flesh against her mouth, the blood singing against her lips. She pulls away abruptly, running fingers down the wet curve of flesh, sinking fingers deep into Kirsten’s body and withdrawing only to thrust again and again, feeling the other woman’s hips buck against the long, hard strokes. Growling, needing, she adds another finger, feeling the tender tissues stretch to their limit as she pushes inside, curling her fingers into blunt claws.

From somewhere comes a cry, piercing and wild, and hot liquid flows over her hand and Kirsten’s thighs. The other woman’s body shudders as the waves of orgasm beat over her, pounding their rhythm against Koda’s hand.

Kirsten feels the cry leave her throat, a wild thing escaping into the air. Her body shudders with the force of her coming, pleasure so intense it is hardly distinguishable from pain shaking her flesh loose from her bones. Above her she sees the strong curve of Koda’s spine, the fall of her hair spilling down her back like a cataract. Her lover’s fingers withdraw from her, Koda turns to trace curving signs on her belly with her own essence. "Mitawa," she says again, huskily. "Mine."

"Mine," Kirsten echoes. "You’re mine."

Rolling over onto her side, she brings Koda down beside her, covering the long body with her own. "Mine," she says again, tongue outlining Koda’s mouth, licking away the fine beads of sweat that have gathered over her lip. Moving down the column of her neck she laps at the moisture there, savoring the salt taste mingled with the sharp sweetness of lavender that runs along her tongue. Drunk, says the small part of her mind still capable of words, drunk with her.

Koda stretches under her, her hips lifting blindly, searching. "Wait," says Kirsten. Beneath her lips, Koda’s throat vibrates with a small, incoherent sound, half moan, half growl. For answer, Kirsten presses her down against the bed again and sinks her teeth into Koda’s shoulder, tasting salt again as blood flows.

"Damn vampire," Koda breathes, her fingers digging into Kirsten’s arm. But Kirsten pulls away, biting her own forearm this time, pressing the flesh with its thin red trickle against Dakota’s lips, feeling sharp white teeth against the edge of the wound as Koda sucks at it. Kirsten draws her arm away, then, and brings her own mouth down on Dakota’s, stained now scarlet as her own. She feels a shudder pass through Koda’s body as their tongues meet, tasting themselves and each other. Blood of my blood. The phrase floats up from some dark place in her mind.

"Hunka." It is Koda’s voice, no more than a breath ghosting over her ear. She does not know the word, though she knows what it must mean. Bound now, inseparable. For this life and forever.

Her mouth moves to Koda’s breast, tongue swirling around the nipple, her free hand slipping down the smooth skin of her flank to slip between her legs. They part for her, and she trails her fingers along the tender skin, rakes through the triangle of dark curls at their apex, slips her fingertip into the growing wetness beneath her hand, withdraws to trace again the long muscles of flank and thigh. Koda’s head tosses against the quilt, eyes narrowed to blue slits, her breath coming in small, hard gasps.

"What do you want?" Kirsten whispers. "Tell me."

"Want—"

"Is it this?" Kirsten’s hand covers Koda’s sex, spreading the flesh wide to press her mouth against the clitoris, tracing its shape with her tongue. She feels Koda tense, her climax gathering, and withdraws. "Or is it this?" she asks, her fingers following her mouth, then sliding down circle the hot entrance to Koda’s body.

"Want—"

"Tell me."

"Fuck me," Koda gasps. "Now. Now!"

"Oh, yes," Kirsten answers, and slips her fingers inside, holding still.

Past words now, Koda thrusts her hips against Kirsten’s hand, and Kirsten at last begins to move in long, slow strokes, her thumb finding the clitoris again, pressing and releasing, then swirling over the distended head until Koda’s spine arches and her body goes rigid. Looking up, Kirsten can see the pulse where it hammers against her lover’s neck, point counterpoint to the frantic beating of blood under her hand. Koda cries out wordlessly, and her climax takes her, rippling through the taut belly under Kirsten’s hand.

"Mitawa," Koda murmurs again after a time that seems to stretch into infinity. "Winyan mitawa. Cante mitawa."

"Mitawa," Kirsten agrees, drained now. She rocks back on her heels, then shifts to lie beside Koda, who slips an arm under her head. Dakota’s eyes slide closed, and darkness takes them both.

* * *

For the second time this day, Koda emerges shivering from the shower. She wraps one of Maggie’s luxurious towels around her—another amenity that is among the last of its kind; there will be no more Egyptian cotton anytime soon—snatches her clean clothes from the hooks on the door and runs the half-dozen steps to the kitchen.

Kirsten already has soup on the stove, with the oven lit and its door open.

Within the compass of its heat, Koda pauses in the doorway, struck once again by the compact grace of Kirsten’s body as she goes about the mundane tasks of preparing a belated lunch. Her shorts and tank top leave her arms and legs bare, browned skin smooth over muscle attesting to unexpected toughness. Her hair, drying rapidly in the warm air, curls around her ears and over the back of her neck. The late afternoon light streaming through the window as she sets out bowls and spoons touches it to gold.

The sight brings a flush of warmth to Koda’s own skin, mingling with the heat from the stove as she steps over Asi’s snoring bulk, unfurls the towel and begins to rub herself dry. But she says only, "Grandma Lula used to talk about how she and her brothers bathed in a big aluminum washtub in front of the stove back on the rez. Maybe we should start doing that, too."

"Grandma Lula?" Kirsten flashes her a smile and an inquiring glance. "Reservation?"

"My mom’s mother. Pine Ridge. She believed that suffering is good for you. Builds character."

"Catholic school?"

"Oh, yeah. That’s why Ina’s such a radical. Equal and opposite reaction."

Kirsten sets the last of the silverware on the table, then turns to face her. "Your mother’s going to object, isn’t she?"

There is no need to ask what Themunga will object to, no need to skirt the answer. Koda lays the towel over the back of a chair and begins to pull on her clothes. "She’s going to have a conniption, if she hasn’t already. But Ate will win her over." She pauses for a moment, head buried in a long-sleeved shirt in Black Watch tartan. "He already counts you as a daughter, you know. So will she, given a little time to get used to the idea. It doesn’t hurt that you’re already picking up some Lakota ways."

"Like talking to raccoons?" Kirsten’s mouth twitches in a quizzical smile.

"Among other things." Koda grins in return. "Not even Themunga would argue with one of the Four-foot spirits."

"Mm," Kirsten observes noncommittally. "How’s your arm?"

"Just a scratch." Koda rolls up her right sleeve, peels the backing off a clear Coloplast bandage and slaps it over the cut. "Next week you won’t even know it was there."

"Sure I won’t. Let’s eat?"

The meal is simple, lentils and vegetables stewed together; they are rationing the meat brought by Wanblee Wapka because there is no time to hunt, and no rancher thins his herd in the spring. It occurs to Koda that there is a certain optimism in the assumption that they will last as long as their supply of protein; unless they win the upcoming confrontation, it will hardly matter whether there is meat for the next month or not. "So," she says, sopping a piece of frybread in the savory broth, "what did you find out about that bomber droid while I was gone?"

Kirsten drops her eyes, giving her entire attention to the soup plate in front of her. "Pass the bread?" As Dakota hands her the basket, she says, "I found the control code. So I made a few more of them."

The tone is so casual that it almost gets by, but the sheer improbability of it snags on Koda’s brain and hangs there, flapping in the breeze. She sets her spoon down carefully. "Say again, please."

Suddenly losing interest in her own food, Kirsten pushes her bowl away with a short, sharp gesture. "I said, I found the code and made some more bomber droids."

It makes no more sense than it did the first time. Granted that Kirsten is brilliant in her field and could probably rig a working computer out of string and paperclips and a few printed circuits. But the Base does not have the materials to make a convincing android, much less "a few more" of a very specialized model. Not in the space of three days. "What," she says, "did you make them from?"

"The droids already assembled. At the plant down at Butte."

Butte is just over the state line in eastern Nebraska, perilously close to Offut and the massing enemy. Dakota leans her forehead on her clasped hands. "You want to tell me about it? Or do I have to keep playing twenty questions?"

Kirsten reaches across the table to touch her arm briefly. "It was no big deal. I put together a patch that will target other droids instead of humans. Then I went down to Butte, did my biodroid act, and installed it in their inventory. I tested it. It worked. End of story."

"Tested it on what?"

"A squad of military units."

Koda lifts her head from her hands, her eyes on Kirsten’s face. "When did you decide to go?"

There is no sign of a struggle there; the clear green gaze meets her own. "When Jimenez brought me the part of the bomber droid that gave me the idea. Before you left for Minot."

At least there will be no lie between them. It is cold comfort. "You might have mentioned it." Koda speaks very clearly, biting off the words. "Say, just in passing. Something like, ‘Koda, I’m going to risk my life and everybody else’s chance of survival on a solo, possibly suicide, mission to a droid plant.’ Would that have been so hard?"

"Yes," Kirsten snaps. "It would have."

"You had no right!" Koda’s fist comes down on the table, rattling the soup bowls. "You’re the President! You’re the fucking Commander-in-Chief! Get used to it!"

"I had the obligation! The goddamned fucking obligation!" Kirsten rises and flings away from the table, facing for a moment out the window. Koda cannot see her face, only the rise and fall of her back with her rapid breathing. When she turns, the color has risen in her face, flushing her skin from the base of her throat to her forehead, turning her tan almost to copper. "I can’t ask anyone else to take risks I won’t take myself, Dakota. That includes the lowest private on the Base. That includes Maggie." She pauses a moment. "And that includes you."

"Goddam it, Kirsten. No President since Washington has led his own troops, much less—"

"Much less fought Cornwallis for his!" Kirsten’s chin comes up, eyes blazing. "Don’t talk to me about not having the right. The world has changed, Koda. You know that."

A silence stretches out between them, spun fine along the currents of anger. Koda’s eyes linger along the red line of her wound, visible under the cloudy plastic of its dressing. Finally she says, "Fair enough. But why didn’t you tell me?"

"Because I could have died."

At that Koda looks up, searching Kirsten’s face as she goes on more quietly. "Or you could have, only I had no idea how. And I didn’t want this fight to be the last of us."

"I wouldn’t have—"

"Yes you would. I’d have tried to stop you, too, if I’d known you were going to fight a duel."

"I’d have gone with you."

"And you wouldn’t have been where you were really needed." Kirsten meets her gaze levelly. "There are things only you can do. Things only I can do. We have to acknowledge that."

"I don’t like it."

"I don’t like it, either. But we are what we are."

Stalemate. Don’t leave me! Don’t you leave me! The words echo in the dark places of Koda’s mind, driven on the wind of panic. But she will not speak them. Instead she says, very quietly, "I don’t want to lose you."

After a moment Kirsten steps around the table to lay her hands on Dakota’s shoulders. "You won’t. We’ll see this out together, wherever it leads."

Koda turns in her seat, covering Kirsten’s hand with her own and laying a soft kiss on her wrist. "Wherever."

Kirsten’s arms slip down over her own, soft hair tickling her cheek, followed by soft lips. She leans back into the embrace, giving herself up to her lover’s persuasion. "If you keep this up--" she murmurs.

"—we’ll end up back in bed. Hmm?"

"You have anything better to do?"

"Not a thing." Very delicately, Kirsten bites the side of her neck.

"Vampire."

Koda draws Kirsten around to stand before her, then down, straddling her lap. "There’s really something to be said for this kiss and make up thing, you know? Let’s—"

She never finishes her suggestion. A fist falls on the door like a hammer, and Jackson follows it into the room as it swings open and Asi scambles to his feet, baying. "Ms. President! Ma’am—oh." He fixes his gaze on a point somewhere midway the lintel of the door.

"Quiet, Asi!" Kirsten gets to her feet and turns to face the airman with what Koda considers remarkable aplomb under the circumstances. "What is it, Jackson?"

"Ma’am!" he gasps. "The Colonel’s compliments, and would you both please come to her office. General Hart has gone missing!"

* * *

Maggie looks up as the door to Hart’s office flies open and Koda comes storming in, Kirsten following on her heels. She holds up a hand. "Hang on, guys. We just found out."

"How," Kirsten demands, coming to a stop before an immaculate, and empty, desk.

"He set up a meeting with his secretary for noon. She waited for an hour or so before checking out his house." Though it’s late in the afternoon, Maggie looks, as always, neat, trim, and immaculately pressed.

"Empty?"

"A hovel," Maggie answers succinctly, rapping her knuckles on the desk. "But he wasn’t there."

Koda, having gone over to the window, parts the blinds and peers out into the warmth of the sunny spring day. "A note?"

"Suicide?" Maggie guesses.

Still peering out the window, Koda lifts a shoulder in elegant reply. A shaft of sunlight lances through the blinds and across the room, to land on the scuffed and bland military tile, highlighting its many imperfections.

"No. But she was looking for a man and not a note, so…."

Nodding, Dakota turns from the window. "How about the gate?"

"Already checked. Nobody in or out since you came back." She turns a significant eye toward Kirsten who, to her credit, hides her flush well as she peers around the empty room as if looking for something she’s lost. Maggie, who isn’t buying the ruse for a moment, hides her smile behind a patently faked cough, earning her a right proper glare from glittering green eyes.

"Anybody spot him before then?" Koda intones, deliberately ignoring the none-too-subtle byplay between her two companions. "He might have slipped out when the convoy returned."

Maggie narrows her eyes, about to protest. Then she thinks better of it and sighs, resigned. "I’ll check again, but I doubt it. No one made any mention of seeing him at all since sometime yesterday."

Crossing the room, Koda lays her hands, palm down, on the Spartan desk. "Do you know where Tacoma is?"

"Yeah, I sent him out with the squad to scour the base. Why?"

"He’s a damn good tracker." Rising to her full height, Dakota eyes Maggie steadily. "Send someone out to find him and tell him to see if he can spot any tracks that might lead to our man. Kirsten and I will comb over his house and see if there’s anything to be found there. We’ll meet you back here, or in your office in, say, two hours. Sooner if we find anything."

Maggie nods crisply, resisting the urge to snap off a salute. Inwardly, though, she’s smiling at the effortless way that Dakota assumes command of the situation. It’s something she saw in the tall, quiet woman from the first moment they met, and she’s pleased to see the shining potential slowly coming to fruition.