Authors: Lavenia Boswell
She held her ground and gave him a curt nod. Melody held out an arm toward the five males and motioned for them to come forward. They all drew close to her side. Jasper even wedged himself between Jonathan and her, which made him frown at the young man.
“Let me introduce you to our two other sons, Storm and Sky. They are tightly knit friends with our dear Jasper,
Tyler
and Noel. They, along with the rest of Sabastian’s pack, are all our family too,” Melody explained with a loving smile at her sons.
Turning toward the five boys she smiled sweetly at them and said, “Now dear hearts, Tory will be our guest for the next ten days. (No one had limited his time with them until she spoke) Go to Sabastian and Jonathan with any concerns you may have, as always, as they are your alphas here at home. Jasper, did you and Sky make certain that Tory’s room has been prepared as I asked?”
“Yes, Mother,” Sky replied quietly.
“Good!” Sighing with relief she turned back to Tory, smiled brightly, held out her arm and said, “Would our fine new house guest escort me into the dining hall?”
Taking her by the arm he smiled warmly back in return. “I would never turn down a breathtaking lady! That’s part of my joy in living, my lovely. Pleasing the women I meet to the best of my ability.”
Melody looked at Melissa and rolled her eyes, but kept the smile on her face.
Dinner was a bit strained until Melissa’s pet monkey Marcy came running into the room, dragging her monkey dolly and jabbering and fussing away at something that was behind her.
“Marcy? Whatever is wrong, baby girl?” Melissa asked as Marcy climbed up into her lap, wrapped her arms around Missy and laid her head on Melissa’s shoulder.
Sabastian had grown to love the little monkey like everyone else had. He asked, “What could be wrong? I thought she was left in our bedroom.”
A shrill chattering and squawking came from the hallway and another monkey came and stood in the doorway, fussing and slamming a small baby doll onto the floor and jumping up and down.
Jonathan J jumped up and apologized to the room, “I’m sorry for the interruption. Seems little Walter wants Marcy to play and she’s tired of his roughness. I’ll have him put in his bedroom until he calms back down.”
Walter seeing Jonathan J heading his way handed over Marcy’s dolly in hopes of quelling his master’s ire.
“Walter, you’ve been a bad boy again. Marcy doesn’t like your macho attitude, especially when it involves one of her dollies. You have your own. I bet it was you that let her out of her place of confinement too.” He picked up the monkey, stalked out of the room and returned in just a few minutes.
Missy was kissing and calming Marcy. Marcy insisted that Sabastian cuddle her too before she would settle down.
“She’s such a baby, really. She’s very sensitive about her baby dolls, too. She doesn’t like to share,” Sam said as the monkey’s arms wrapped around his neck as he held her against his chest and he pat her preemie diaper covered in pink ruffles.
Tory burst out laughing. “I’ve
nev
er seen such a cute little thing! This primate is very much like a human toddler, isn’t she?”
Melissa smiled and agreed. “I’ve used her in several of my early socialization studies of primitive lifestyles. She is exactly like a toddler in many different ways. She will always be precious to me. If Walter keeps getting too bossy with her, we may have to limit his freedom.” She looked at her dad for confirmation.
Jonathan J stated, “Walter thinks she’s cute and he wants to make an impression on her, but he’s not old enough yet to realize he’s terrorizing her with his macho dolly hitting. Showing her how strong he is, which is typical for male primates, is intimidating to our tiny little Marcy, who is much smaller than her peers. I’ll try and get him interested in Betsy as a playmate tomorrow. She’ll not put up with any excessive roughhousing.”
Mark looked at Tory and asked, “Mister Vannese, the work that you are now involved in, are you allowed to share any of it with us?”
Tory’s brows raised and he looked pleased at the question. “As you may know Mister Zanlea, most of my work involves the calming of nervous interplanetary brothers and sisters, per say, who are fighting against the expansion of our bloodlines.”
Melody asked with calm, “You mean they are separatists? They insist on segregation of their species and hate intermarriages?”
Tory laughed. “You certainly do cut to the chase, love. That’s exactly what it is with all the frills and fancy words removed. How refreshing to not have to dance around the issue with you. I so much enjoy a sparkling conversation with a smart and beautiful woman. It’s rare I am so blessed. I must thank you all for allowing me to visit while we work on some important issues going on between our governments.”
Jonathan nodded and answered, “Grandfather is very pleased with the negotiations that you’ve managed to complete so far. It’s those Catrellians that have been causing us so much grief. They are so fickle and tend to care for no one other than themselves.”
Tory smiled, looked at Mary, Mark’s wife and winked at her. “We call them Catrellians because they are very feline in their personalities. They are difficult to deal with, however, their females are almost as beautiful as those of Earth, which makes it worth the battle.”
Mark noticed Tory kept starring at his wife and Melody with obvious flirtatious looks. He glanced over at both the Jonathans and could tell they were not pleased as well. Then he snickered as he noticed Storm actually glaring at the man. Jonathan’s sons were not the type to take too much off of any man, no matter his origins or station in life. Then there were the “Trio”, that’s what everyone called Sam’s nephews. They were still young, but aging more daily, like H’traeians but a bit slower. They would die to defend Melody, or any of the women in their “pack”, this he knew. So he managed to settle back in his seat and began to enjoy his meal.
Saba
stian was trying not to look nervous. The frequent twitching of his fingers gave away his emotions to those who now knew him. He could strangle his uncle! He’d hoped the man had toned down his flirtations, but no, he might even be worse than ever.
Melissa held his hand under the table and stroked his palm to get him to calm down. It worked. It was their “sign” to one another that friskiness was in the offering. Sam could never get enough of his Missy, never. He was addicted to her and loved every minute of his life with her.
Once the meal was over the men retired into the den to chat while sipping on some Island Rum.
The women wanted to sit on the rear veranda and watch the ocean while they discussed/gossiped about their new guest.
Mary leaned over closer to Melody as they rocked in their porch rockers side by side. “I heard there was a commotion here today while I was out with Elizabeth and Melissa getting new curtains for the guest room.” She grins big as Melody’s face flushes bright red. “I knew it! Tell us what happened and don’t leave out any of the exciting and naughty details.”
Melissa scoots her rocker around to face her mom as
Elizabeth
does the same with her chair, and the other women of the family crowd around to hear the news. They knew whatever it was that made Melody blush so brightly it had to be good.
Waving her hand in the air she states, “Oh, it was nothing, really. Jonathan stayed behind while the others went to pick up Tory from the private airport. He found me in the den and well, we began kissing, and so . . . .”
They all look puzzled. Melissa smiles and looks around at the other women, she’d overheard a few of the things her nephews had said earlier. But she would
nev
er divulge a word.
Mary elbows her friend in the ribs. “Come on, Mel, out with it. I wanna hear all the sorted details. I heard that the Trio were rather upset with Jonathan. Something about him embarrassing you? What happened?”
Melody smiled sheepishly. “Well, Jonathan really pours out the pheromones when he’s aroused. That tends to make me do the same. Anyway, afterward we were straightening our clothes when there came a pounding on the office door.”
She paused to take another sip of her iced tea.
Elizabeth
encouraged with, “Come on, come on, out with it!”
Melody grins. “It was my sons, seems they are more attuned to me than when they were smaller. When they found out it was their dad with me they relaxed. But then Jasper, Noel and
Tyler
came running up. It appears they had sensed I was being ‘attacked’ and had hurried to my rescue.”
Everyone looks puzzled again. So she realizes she has to tell them the embarrassing part. “All those pheromones I mentioned were smelling pretty potent in the office about that time. Even Jonathan had sniffed the air and made a smart aleck comment about it. So, of course I didn’t want him to open the door with all five boys right on the other side. You know how the Trio can smell out about anything? It was simply too, too embarrassing. But I couldn’t stop Jon. He was in a mood. So, he grabbed me by the waist, saying those boys needed to realize he was my husband and we have sex. That was all it was. It just made me want to smack him for opening the door.”
Everyone laughed, understanding the embarrassment she’d felt. Men were braggarts at times, especially about having had sex.
Mary asked, feeling sorry for the boys who adore Melody, “What did the guys do? They didn’t say anything rude, did they?”
Melody shook her head. “They didn’t say one word. I was too embarrassed to look at them so I kept my eyes on the carpet as Jonathan dragged me out the door and down the hallway.”
“I would have died from the shame!” Sue, Zane’s wife, stated in anger for her ‘grand-mother’ Melody’s sake. “Whatchathink of that Tory guy?” Sue then asked to change the subject.
All the women giggled.
Elizabeth
grinned as she stated, “All those Zileanians are pretty hunky, aren’t they? I mean they are far more muscular than the average Human or H’traeian.”
Melody mentioned, “Storm and Sky are just as muscular as they are. Haven’t you noticed?”
They all nod and smile as they admit they couldn’t help but notice how extremely handsome and well endowed with muscles her boys were. They all shared that they would be men in a couple more
mont
hs and would be seeking their mates.
As the ladies sipped their drinks which were refilled regularly, they all wondered aloud at the beauty their own children would most likely have.
“I’m so thankful neither have talked about feeling any Stirrings, yet. They grow up so fast!” Melody shared.
Melody looks around at her family and friends before she warns, “Ladies, remember that Tory is only a guest. Don’t let his flirtatious ways get anyone here in trouble. He’s a roustabout and a heartbreaker you can be sure.”
Sue said, “Yeah, we figured as much, but he sure is pretty to look at and his voice feels like hot fudge sliding down into your soul. I mean, perhaps he had sensual powers that no one has mentioned.”
Melody laughed. “Sue, you’re going to make Zane crazy if you let him know how Tory makes you feel.”
Elizabeth stated, “Well, Mel, he does seem to have some kind of power. I thought his voice sounded like a sexy deep almost growl. And the man is far, far too handsome for sure.”
Melissa admitted, “I also thought his voice was extremely seductive, like velvet.”