GalacticFlame (6 page)

It made her realize just how brave and devoted Auron and
Trasean were travelling up and down the mountain probably countless times to
work on the tower in the hope of finding their intended.

A blinding thought hit her, catching the breath in her
throat. If Aline had been the one who’d gone with Genesis as his rightful
intended, Auron and Trasean might well have discovered her as their next
intended!

The idea was almost too incredible to contemplate.

Yes, she found them both beyond good-looking, but she wasn’t
attracted to them in any way. Genesis was the only one who sent her pulse
soaring and caused her belly to dip. The only one who made her heart
pitter-patter just from a glance.

Was it possible some things were simply meant to be?

Pushing aside all thoughts related to Genesis, she asked in
a small voice, “Are the
caltronians
really so vicious?” She couldn’t go
up that mountain ill-advised and without knowledge.

“Unfortunately, yes. Few people survive an attack. Even
those of us who hunt them in groups take a big risk.”

It highlighted how fearless and undoubtedly skilled Trasean
and Auron were as warriors. “So why not leave them alone?”

“They’re prolific breeders. One female
caltronian
has
a litter of up to ten cubs every mating cycle—every eight to ten months.” He
shrugged. “If you do the math you can see why that would be a problem. There’d
be so many we’d be fighting just to stay alive, as would much of
Carèche’s
other
wildlife.”

His earlier statement about staying on his planet to keep it
alive suddenly made so much sense.

“Besides which,” he added, “their meat is a pleasure to eat
and their dense fur makes for the best bedding.”

She pointed to his bike. “Not to mention seat padding.”

“Exactly.”

When he got the
bolishta
to kneel once again, he slid
off before gathering her back into his arms. She gave the animal one last pat
along its nose. It almost groaned with pleasure, its lips wobbling as though
jelly. “Thank you,” she said to the animal with a laugh, “you were great for a
novice rider.”

Genesis placed her on the
cercanne
and helped her
adjust her feet in the stirrups. She wiggled her toes, marveling how the sand
was too hot by far for her to walk on; yet her delicate skin had yet to burn,
even redden slightly. It was as if the ground absorbed all the heat.

“Wait one second.” He grinned and added drily, “Don’t go
anywhere.”

He strode past the
bolishtas
and toward the gardens.
Stooping, he plucked one of the plants from the ground and brought it back with
him. Red vines like thin, nobly ropes hung down from a hollow, central wand. He
handed it to her with a flourish. “Flowers for my woman.”

She accepted the spongy offering feeling every bit the fraud
she was. But somehow she croaked, “Thank you. But…flowers?”

“That’s right.” He stroked the inside of the central wand
and one flower popped out from the nobly part of the vine, followed by another
and another, until a bouquet of bright red, roselike flowers filled her hands.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered, awed by the magnificence
in her hands.

He plucked one from its vine and pressed it behind her ear.
“Not nearly as beautiful as you,
Sheehar
.”

Something in her chest hurt. God, she really was falling for
him, despite herself. Shame he was wooing a fake, a woman not even his
intended.

He climbed aboard the
cercanne
. As it came to life
she could only be glad he was oblivious to the tears that fell as he turned the
bike around for the return journey.

She didn’t deserve him.

As they sped along the sand, her arms wrapped around his
waist and the bouquet clutched in her hands, the flower whipped free from her
hair. She turned around and watched the bloom bounce behind them, abandoned and
soon swallowed up by the surroundings, not unlike the way her lies had become a
seamless part of herself.

Genesis’ people had set up quite the feast by the time they
returned. Aromas she didn’t recognize permeated the air and made her belly
grumble with hunger.

Big bowls of steaming food—the
sylaks
had been kept
busy—sat on a long shield table that hovered just above the ground,
caltronian
rugs laid out either side as seats.

Katy’s two cherub-faced children ran around the tents,
giggling as they took it-in turns giving chase, their dads watching proudly.

Genesis once again carried her over the hot sand, and she
couldn’t help but think he would look every inch the satisfied male as he
approached the small group of people waiting for their arrival.

Madge looked up with a broad smile, a still-sleeping baby in
her arms. Then Katy and Michelle approached, beaming at them.

“Everything is ready, my Prince and Princess,” Katy
announced.

Genesis thanked them before he placed Eden onto the nearest
rug. She dragged her stare away from his hot gaze, feeling a little shy in
front of so many interested faces.

Glancing at his people, she caught Sala’s speculative,
unfriendly stare as she stood just outside the group. With a barbed smile, the
other woman approached. “Congratulations to the happy couple.” There was a
barely concealed, glacial glitter in her stare as she openly examined Eden’s
neck. “But no marking yet I see.”

Eden sucked in a breath. She’d heard all about the marking
ceremony that was unlike an Earth wedding in many respects. Her parents had
warned Aline more than once about what would be expected. Eden wrung her hands.
The male bit his intended woman with his long, back fangs, injecting pheromones
under the skin to let other males know she was taken.

Oh, shit.

She turned away from Sala, her attention all on Genesis as
she asked unsteadily, “This feast…please tell it’s not leading up to our
marking ceremony?”

Genesis’ frown moved away from Sala to focus on her. “Relax,
Sheehar
. The old ways are a thing of the past in my province. Only the
most traditional continue to perform the ceremony before their intended is
ready—while all watch.”

Resentment fairly pulsed from Sala when Genesis leaned down,
his lips brushing her ear as he murmured, “When you tell me you love me, then I
know you’re ready and I’ll mark you—in private.”

Her breath hitched as her heart fluttered unsteadily in her
chest. How had she once wondered if the aliens’ edicts were barbaric? She
should have known better by their leader’s example alone.

Her breathing returning to normal, she said softly, “I’m
glad.”

Sala’s spite was made void by Genesis’ warm smile. “Today is
my peoples’ final celebration to welcome us home. It isn’t every day they get
to greet a princess.”

Home? Strange how in such a short time the word didn’t seem
so foreign or unnatural. Genesis was right.
Carèche
really did have a
way of sinking into one’s bones and wrapping itself around one’s soul.

Trasean appeared from a nearby
donya
with a small
drum in his hands. When he tapped out a throbbing, strangely haunting sound,
Auron took to the imaginary stage beside him on the sand and began an acrobatic
dance that was exquisite to behold.

“Entertainment,” Genesis said with a wry grin as she stared,
spellbound.

“They’re amazing.” Musician and dancer were united as one.
And despite herself, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it was possible her
sister could fall for these men. Both of them.

Genesis motioned that she sit on the
caltronian
fur
beside him. As everyone but Trasean and Auron followed their example, the
shield table began to slowly revolve, so that all the bowls of food could be
viewed and taken at leisure.

Genesis selected two round cups and handed one to her
.
“Lakroda,”
he informed. “Our natural and much healthier version to Earth’s
liquor—unless one drinks excessively.”

She sniffed the liquid appreciatively. Mint with spicy
overtones. “I’ve always wanted to try this,” she conceded. “It was one of the
few alien plants that didn’t thrive on Earth.”

She drained the cup, relishing every drop of the exotic
beverage that revealed vague hints of kiwi fruit.

“I take it you like?” Genesis asked with a wry grin.

She nodded, already feeling lightheaded and a little weird.
“But I think I’ve had enough.”

Sala snorted, grabbed a cup and gulped hers down as though
to prove the Earth princess was weak and couldn’t handle her alcohol.

A scowl dissolved Genesis’ humor. “Sala, is there something
you’d like to say?”

Sala plunked the empty cup back onto the revolving table and
looked up. “I do, my Prince.” Retrieving another cup from the table, she raised
it in the air and announced bitterly, “
Kas’lios,
Princess.”

A thick, awkward silence was awarded for her efforts, the
people plainly stunned by Sala’s behavior.

Auron paused in his dance and, at a nod from Genesis, he
approached Sala. Whatever he whispered in her ear obviously had a sobering
effect. He led her away from the celebrations without any fuss.

“Forgive me,
Sheehar
,” Genesis said, a tinge of
weariness in his voice, “I should never have allowed her to stay and spoil the
celebrations.”

“She’s in love with you.”

It wasn’t a question and he didn’t answer it as one. “She
thinks she is, but she knows nothing of the emotion. In fact, I’m certain she’s
more in love with the thought of being a royal.” He brushed one side of her
face with a hand. “Of being you.”

Trasean upped the tempo on his drums and it wasn’t long
before the festive air returned once more. Eden thrived on Genesis’ attention,
his whispered comments in her ear as the talk and laughter around them
escalated.

Sampling the food from the table would have been any
connoisseurs dream. Her first dish was herbed, white meat that melted in the
mouth and tasted a lot like Earth’s wild rabbit. A flower petal and red melon
combo that had been drizzled in some kind of honey-flavored syrup was her next
dish of choice, followed by a spiced, gravy meat stew that was too delicious
for words.

“Caltronian,”
Genesis informed her as she ate the
last mouthful of the stew with obvious relish.

If the idea left her feeling a little squeamish, she didn’t
have time to acknowledge it. Not when the drum beat came to an abrupt end and
all eyes turned to Trasean, a collective gasp sounding at the light flashing
from the glass bauble at his throat.

Auron ran from whichever
donya
he’d taken Sala. His
bauble also flashed, his eyes feverish with excitement and in total contrast to
Trasean’s shocked expression. Running to Trasean, he clapped his shoulder and
shouted, “It is time!”

A sick feeling hit the pit of her belly then crawled over
her body as understanding dawned. The glass baubles warned Trasean and Auron
when their intended was found.

Oh Aline, no.

What were the chances the transmitter had located another
Earth woman besides Aline? Probably slim to none. However few human women had
been left on Earth, she was certain most would already be on
Carèche
with their alien intendeds.

If she could have bawled she would have. Instead she sat
silent, stiff and disbelieving. Everything she’d done, all her lies, however
well intentioned, could well have been for nothing. Worse than nothing once
Genesis discovered her deception.

Somehow she kept the shudders all on the inside.

She wasn’t even his woman yet, not officially. Not until she
was marked.

She closed her eyes as an insidious voice crept into her
mind.
When he returns, tell him you love him so that he’ll mark you. Tell
him before Aline is found and he discovers your deceit.

No. She bit into her bottom lip, her eyelids fluttering
open. If she was to survive this whole ordeal with at least some of her dignity
intact, she couldn’t dig herself even deeper with lies.

Genesis pushed to his feet and everyone quieted expectantly.
“You all know the drill. Gather the necessary provisions and weapons.” A
sudden, hot breeze fluttered through his hair and lifted it from his shoulders,
the sand at their feet shifting. “Men, we leave for the tower in one hour and
see who exactly this signal has found.”

As everyone including the women dispersed, Genesis turned.
He crouched beside her, his hands curling over her shoulders. “I’m sorry, this
wasn’t exactly the way I envisioned our celebrations to end.”

I’m sorry too.

His eyes darkened, hands tightening a little. “But when I
return I’ll show you exactly how glad I am to have found you.”

She managed a nod, words sticking in her throat as though
the sharp edges of a serrated bone. He would hate her once he discovered the
truth and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to prevent her deception from
being revealed.

His hands slid down to clasp hers before he stood again and
pulled her upright. His eyes gleamed as his head lowered and his mouth covered
hers, taking ownership of the kiss as though a promise of things to come.

At her stiff response he pulled back with a questioning
glint in his eyes. “You don’t want me to go?”

A hot flush spread across her face as she searched his
stare, unsure what exactly she was looking for but aware that divulging the
desperation building within could well give away her secret. Her hope that he
not find her sister. “No,” she admitted.

He frowned. “This is important to my men. They deserve a
chance at happiness too.” His frown deepened. “What is this all about?”

Please don’t go there.

She shook her head. “Nothing…I’m just being silly…selfish,
really.” At least she wasn’t lying about the latter. She lifted a hand. “You
could get hurt…”