Building Harlequin’s Moon by Larry Niven, Brenda Cooper Page A

Glenn
. Sometimes they kissed, and licking heat ran down Rachel’s spine and settled between her thighs. They touched as often as they could, but they didn’t undress. The landscape was almost flat, yet Harry often found little hollows where they could feel alone. They talked about a future together. By some unspoken pact, Rachel and Harry stayed separate during the days.
    They all went back to Aldrin to pick up supplies and visit families. Rachel spent two days with Ursula. The girls didn’t leave each other’s sides except to sleep. Rachel listened endlessly to Ursula’s troubles working with the students left behind in her care. Once Ursula said that maybe Rachel had it harder, being out there with the boys. Rachel just smiled and said it wasn’t so bad.
    The secret of her growing relationship with Harry was a weight pulling Rachel from Ursula, and she woke up each night worrying about how to tell her. She had never kept secrets from Ursula.
    The third day Rachel and Harry met outside Aldrin, up at the grove. They clasped hands as soon as they reached the privacy of the First Trees. Rachel leaned into Harry, breathing in his soapy clean smell and feeling his chin against the top of her head, his arms around her waist. They lay down and she snuggled into his arms, watching the dim summer stars through the lacework of young lianas threading through the spreading canopy.
    Harry leaned over and whispered, “I missed you.”
    Rachel brought her fingers up to his cheekbones and ran the back of her hand over the contours of his face. A soft stubble of beard made his chin tickle her fingers. He heldcompletely still, one hand cupping her shoulder, and closed his eyes. They kissed, and then she felt his free hand on her belly, rubbing it in small concentric circles. She arched her back, drew in a fearful excited breath, and took his hand and placed it on her breast. He squeezed it gently, exploring, finding the nipple and then pulling up her shirt and taking it in his mouth. She breathed faster and moved closer, matching him skin to skin in as many places as she could. Her hand ran up his spine. She trembled.
    Hands and fingers and tongues made tentative explorations. Rachel was unsure about the next step, not pushing, not resisting. The sounds of leaves against branches and the dusky shadows of night were all crystal clear, and she felt a little as if she—no,
they
—floated above themselves in some place of desire and pleasure she had never known before. She dropped her hand along his inner thigh, and ran it up the curve of his hips.
    A dry branch snapped close to them, and she heard a sharp intake of breath and a small cry.
    Ursula.
    Rachel stiffened and called out. “Ursula?”
    The only reply was the sound of footsteps running away.
    Rachel pushed herself up on her elbows. “I’m sure it was Ursula. She’ll be angry. I have to go find her.”
    “Stay,” he whispered, and Rachel sank back, her mind visualizing Ursula’s face, the expression of disgust that she heard but didn’t see.
    “I . . . I never told her about us. She won’t understand. I didn’t know how to tell her. She . . . she . . .”
    “. . . doesn’t like me.” He finished her sentence. “I know. I don’t mean . . . I guess I like her okay, but she needs so much help. Not like you—it’s all easy for you. You and me, we love the work. We care about Selene. I think Ursula cares about what you think more than about anything else.” His hand covered her navel, moving softly against her stomach.
    “She’s . . . just less secure.” Rachel tried to breathe back into being with him. “You don’t understand her.”
    “She slows you down.”
    “But she’s my friend. I . . . I have to go to her. I’ll meet you again tomorrow.”
    He looked startled, then sad. “Don’t go,” he said. When she didn’t answer, he said, “I understand. Tomorrow, right”
    She reached up and kissed him, taking a few moments, touching tongues. “I have to