16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
A melia woke up humming. She rolled over and kissed Zylar good morning. He was still half asleep, and she laughed at how cute he looked. Then she rolled away from his searching hands to land on the floor and head for the shower. It wasn't called a shower, but she'd stick with the names she knew for now. She hummed a tune for a song she didn't know the name of. Come to think of it, she didn't know the words either, not that it stopped her.
She was happy, that song she knew and started was Happy by Pharrell Williams. She pulled out a miniskirt with a matching top and a thong. The small scrap of fabric fascinated her monster. Who was she to deny him the simple pleasures of life? If only she had a cloth fabricator on Earth, her life would have been much simpler.
Zylar was going through a series of stretches when Amelia came out of the refreshing area. That's what it translated to in English. She might have grinned at remembering the term if she hadn't been trying not to swallow her tongue. Her monster was beautiful, and the way his body moved was like a wet dream. The male made her wet and needy.
"Beautiful." She took a seat on the bed to watch as he contorted himself into positions that made her want to get down and dirty with him. "Do they teach martial arts on your planet?" she asked when he stood straight and seemed to give a sign to his goddess for a blessing.
"Martial arts." He rolled the word around and before his eyes lit with understanding. "Yes, but I'm of the royal line. I was taught how to fight when I learned to stand. It was evident quickly that I would not be a warrior, but a healer. My path diverged, and I learned to keep my body in harmony, and from there I was taught to fight to keep my patients from harm. I've been in more than one war with active weapons fire while getting my patients out of combat zones."
She watched as he walked into the refreshing room, probably to take a shower. She didn't remember what the shower was called and wasn't worried about it. When he came out dressed, she sighed, giving up on thoughts of a day spent in bed.
"What does the royal line have to do with anything?" It was asking questions or jumping him. Her stomach was reminding her that she hadn't eaten in a while.
"When we have our children, they will be taught the art of war. This will keep them safe as they grow older, but it will also keep our people safe, their people."
"You're a healer, not the next king."
"You're correct, but I am royalty and so are you. We take our roles seriously and we grow up knowing that we are the last line of protection between the enemy and our people. I would die to keep them safe. I will die to keep you and our future progeny safe."
Amelia's hand covered her womb. She hadn't been thinking about children last night. That was okay. It took more than one night, right? Yeah, yeah, she knew all about biology, but right now she was trying to convince herself that she was okay even though they hadn't used protection.
"Children?"
"You don't want younglings?" He was watching her, as if deciphering her expression was all that mattered.
"I…" Hadn't she thought about this earlier when she was having her existential breakdown? Did she want children? A girl with Zylar's unusual eyes and purple hair. She was there for that. Would she live? Could they stay on the ship forever? That's what she was planning on. That way, she'd never have to face the horror that came for her on earth.
"I do, but let's wait until later." She waved her hand, saying some distant time in the future.
"You mean until you know you're safe and secure?" She raised guilty eyes to meet his. She should know that he would protect her, but after all she'd gone through, safety felt relevant to where she was.
"I think that's a sound plan."
"You do?" She wasn't timid, but this was one of those subjects that could make or break a relationship.
"I do. It's not good for a female to be pregnant when she is in a situation where she doesn't feel safe. It's not only an enormous amount of unneeded pressure on her, but it can also affect the child in different ways. I wish all females could be safe and happy as they deliver their children to term."
She crossed the room and jumped into his arms, planting a big kiss on him. "Thank you for understanding."
"Always." He set her down, and they walked out of the room heading towards breakfast. "There's something I think you should know."
She slowed down, dragging her feet. The feel of the floor on them reminded her that she hadn't worn shoes since she'd been aboard.
"What should I know?" He stayed silent while they were on the lift. Before they got to the cafeteria, he spoke.
"It's time to go back to Earth." Her world crumbled around her. He could have said anything except that, and she would have dealt with it, including I've changed my mind. I'm not your mate. Anything except it's time to go back to the place where all of her haunted nightmares waited to attack her.
The past weighed her down, making it hard to smile brightly or think higher thoughts as they entered. Zylar led her to a chair while several crewmen looked at her like they were concerned.
"Why?" she choked out when Zylar sat them at a private table.
"Because you froze up thinking about it. There are small dots of fear lighting up your emotional board." She gave a nod, acknowledging that she heard him, but was silent. He brought them breakfast and she played with it more than she ate.
The eyes of the Tan-ge who virtually held her prisoner and were trying to kill her were floating in her mind. They were so cold a glance at them made her shiver.
The thought of going back and running into him made her stomach sour with dread. Pushing her plate away, she got up and walked to the small view of space from the cafeteria.
"I laughed when they said there was intelligent life in the stars. We're barely existing, I thought. How could the universe deal with two sentient life forms? Then you guys came and proved me and millions of humans wrong. That's when I said it didn't matter. I'd never see one of the alien monsters up close and personal. I was so na?ve, look where I'm at now."
"Is this a bad thing?"
She took her time to look at him. Was being with Zylar a bad thing? She knew the answer before he finished asking the question. It wasn't, but that's not what had her twisting in fear. He, the Tan-ge that made her life a living hell, wouldn't stop until she was dead. There was no way she could fight him the way her cousins fought. She didn't have any special skills or powers. She was simply plain Amelia who lucked up and mated a healer from a different planet.
"Being with you has been one of the best experiences of my life." It was the truth, not that she was sure he was ready to hear it or that she was ready to say it. How much longer did they have if he was taking her back to Earth? Not once had he made a sarcastic or funny remark about her weight. Amelia wasn't scared to take her clothes off in front of him. He never looked at her like he was judging her against the girl next door.
Those were all things she'd experienced and part of the reason she'd been down on men. Were there some good ones out there? Of course. She just hadn't met any of them until now. He wrapped his arms around her, and she snuggled with her back to his chest.
"I know we have to go." Fate was coming for her one way or the other. It's just part of life. "I just…" How do you tell someone you were just starting to care about that you weren't always the nicest person? Did they need to know? Couldn't she keep it to herself? What happens when that one person who hates you put your business out in the street? He was going to find out, anyway. Shouldn't she be the one to tell him?
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She rushed the word and then flinched, knowing she hadn't hidden a thing. Lying was never her strong suit.
"Two swats on your gorgeous ass for lying to me." Now, this was a problem. She didn't want to lie or avoid the truth with him, but getting promised swats made her thighs tingle. Her ass reddened in response, and her pussy dripped. Let's not talk about how tight her nipples were.
Zylar caressed one of her nipples, rolling it around through her shirt. She had to bite her tongue to keep from drawing attention to them.
"Someone likes the thought of me spanking her ass, making it red before I smooth it with my hand and kiss it to make it feel better." A soft moan left her lips.
"You're a tease," she said, her fingers entwining with his.
"You know you like it. Come on, let's try to eat again. You need food and your tummy is still rumbling."
***
How had she come with nothing, but was leaving with a small bag of clothes? It was the world's best-kept secret.
"I'm going to take this to the shuttle and then visit with Delsa for a few before it's time to go."
"Come here." His voice went deeper and took on a commanding edge. Amelia shivered and started thinking of other things she could do until it was time to go.
She walked over to him slowly, dragging the anticipation out until it was a fever pitch. When his hand held onto her waist, drawing her closer, her knees were ready to buckle with the desire she felt deep inside. His lips slanted over hers, kissing her like there'd be no tomorrow. She clutched at his shirt as she felt her knees give. He drew back with a wicked smile on his lips.
"Now you can go visit Delsa."
"Men," she rumbled, trying to hide the fact that she was ready to sink to the floor and give him a blow job that would burn brain cells.
What a difference a few days could make. The crew smiled and talked to her as she walked the hallways on the way to the hangar. A few even told her to come back soon, and they'd miss her while she was gone. Making friends hadn't been part of her plan. That stopped her. What plan? She planned to run from state to state and country to country until she found a place where she could lose herself and never be found. This wasn't part of the plan period.
The shuttle was open. She dropped her bag in the cargo bay and went to find Delsa, who was standing outside the shuttle.
"You weren't leaving without saying goodbye, were you?" Delsa stared at her like she was a convicted convict and Delsa was waiting for her to tell the truth.
"Nope, I was on my way to find you."
"Perfect. Let's talk on the shuttle where there are fewer listening ears." She pulled at her earlobe, which was pointed now that Amelia was paying attention.
They went up the ramp and then took a seat in the passenger section.
"Shoot," Delsa said.
"What?" Amelia was confused.
"I know that look. You wanted to ask me questions, but never got a chance. Now's your time."
She had lots of questions for her new bestie, but hadn't been willing to dig into her life.
"How did you meet your mate?"
"My planet Novara was being destroyed, but our scientists couldn't understand what was happening. The Diza came to help. We eventually discovered that the Tan-ge had planted a virus that would eat the planet until it fell apart. In doing that, they also killed off ninety percent of our people, male and female. The planet was doomed and there was nothing to do but flee."
"Where did you go?" Amelia didn't know if she should tell her friend how sad she was for her and her people.
"I think I'll let that be a surprise. Anyway, I met my mate then. We've been together for five hundred years. Not once did I ever regret choosing him. Have you seen his ass?"
"Oh, come on," Amelia said. "We both know hands down no one has an ass to match Zylar's. I love how it sits high, and it's tight. God, it's like an apple I want to bite."
"You care about him," Delsa laughed.
"Maybe."
"Oh no, you do. I can see it in your eyes. All you're doing is denying the inevitable."
"How many women to men?" She couldn't get over the fact that the Tan-ge loved to kill women.
"Five men to every female. Then it got worse as the women married into other races." Amelia nodded. She could feel it in Delsa's emotions. She was desperate for the men of her planet to find females to mate with.
"If earth women can love the Diza, then they can love the Novarin. Zylar is coming. I'll see you when you come back." She was gone before Amelia could say goodbye. Delsa moved fast to be so small.
"Are you ready?" Zylar asked as he made his way to the front of the cockpit. He did his preflight check. Amelia took a seat beside him, thinking about how things had changed since she last sat in that seat.
"Zylar, remember, no matter what you hear, the real woman was the one you were with on your ship." He leaned over and kissed her and then they were off.
If only she didn't have to go back. The closer they got to Earth, the stronger the message was. She didn't hear it in her head, but she heard it on multiple frequencies.
‘Amelia, you can run, but you can't hide. I will kill you.'