Botanicaust

here, but he could barely blink without pain, let alone travel. Be a man, Levi. Get up . He trembled, building his courage to try again, but failed. He released his breath and slumped on the hard ground.
    Hadn ’ t he seen pills in the emergency kit? Maybe they were painkillers. He cracked an eye and managed to shuffle through the kit. No pills.
    “ Tula, ” he called again. How he wanted Tula. As much to be sure she was safe as for the comfort her presence provided. He felt horrible for treating her so badly after the duster incident. She ’ d saved him twice. And all he ’ d done was ogle her body and nearly kill her with leaves and drowning. He inhaled long and slow, remembering when he ’ d put his mouth on hers to resuscitate her at the pool.
    Eyes still shut , Levi frowned . Two times, now, he ’ d touched her lips with his and forgotten himself. He was prone to a woman ’ s influence, but with Tula he truly could not keep control. Like he was drugged. Hadn ’ t he even wondered that before?
    The beginning of an idea took shape in Levi ’ s mind. Physical contact with Tula produced something — alcohol, morphine, aphrodisiac, whatever. Would simply kissing her be enough to kill pain? More importantly, would kissing her be too much to resist … the rest? He remembered the warm evergreen scent that was all Tula, the silky texture of her skin beneath his hands. The single-minded purpose her lips gave him.
    Lord, forgive me.
    He needed to kiss her.

    After a long time lying on the hard ground near the tamarisk thicket, Tula caught her breath and acknowledged no chemical waves were poisoning her. She looked at her sap-covered arms, seeds stuck like feathers on a bird. Why wasn ’ t she sick?
    Maybe the suppression pills worked better than she ’ d been told. Or maybe not all plants are poisonous . Had the Protectorate taught her wrong? Yuvee leaves definitely poisoned her, but that didn ’ t seem true of the tamarisk. The sap was uncomfortable, but she wasn ’ t breaking out. She wasn ’ t unconscious. She was just sticky and crusted with dirt in tacky patches impervious to water.
    At a loss, she retrieved the basket of water bottles and trudged back to Levi. She didn ’ t see any sign of cannibals, but they were out there.
    Falling to her knees beside him, she evaluated his purple, swollen eyes. “ Levi? ”
    He lifted his right hand and threaded his fingers through the hair at the base of her neck. With surprising strength, he pulled her down, then put his lips against hers, and her world turned upside down.
    He was in no condition to have sex. She ought to tell him no. But his lips were so gentle, so hesitant and searching. And she wanted to be with him again. To forget the world and lose herself in him and in the alkaloids rushing through her body.
    She flicked her tongue into his mouth, tasting the roughness of a split on his lip. His hand left her neck to cup her cheek, his thumb scratchy against her skin. With quiet pressure he eased her away. She rocked back onto her knees, head swimming with desire.
    Still obviously weak, he pushed to a sitting position and remained with his bruised eyes closed. Then he cracked them open and looked at her. “ Medicine. ”
    She stared at him through waves of desire. Her hand flew to her lips. “ Medicine. ” Of course. Her alkaloids. He didn ’ t want sex. Only the chemicals.
    He nodded contentedly. Disappointment fluttered in her breast. But he was right. They had to move.
    They packed up and Tula swung the basket over her shoulders. The bottles were heavy, but he couldn ’ t carry them. Every few hours, when Levi ’ s strength seemed to flag, she administered a kiss. They followed the river, looking for a place to cross.
    After two days, his pain was worse, and his skin burned with fever. She changed the poultices morning and night, but the cut on his arm remained swollen, stretched and gaping between the butterfly closures.
    “ Bad. ”
    He nodded. “ Infection. ”
    She sprayed the wound with the last of the antiseptic and wrapped it in the last of the gauze.
    They stopped at a cluster of cattails and Levi waded in. He ’ d hardly eaten anything since the cannibal attack except for one tiny fish he ’ d caught with the bent needle from the stitch kit, and a few longhorned beetles he ’ d showed her how to find in the tamarisk. Beetles were a lot harder to come by than she realized, and she ’ d let him eat them all, though her mouth