TAKEN: Journey to a New Home (12 page)

“You can feel the babies already? Isn’t it too early?” Natalie questioned.

  “It is a little early but Vax said it is possible and probably due to the fact that it’s twins. He said Samantha and I will also show sooner and larger because of the twins thing,” Holly explained. “I’ll take five of this one since there are so many colors to choose from and one each of the other styles. That’ll give me a week’s worth plus one.”

  “I already asked Axon for the fabric and sewing supply crate. He said they’d pull it out and put in here. He left it where they could reach it easily just in case. I’ll make you couple of simple dresses for comfort also.” Wendy told her and then turned, “Samantha?”

  “I’ll do like Holly and go with this one since it’s easiest to alter and there are so many colors and one each of the others. Do you think you could make me a dress or two also? At sixteen weeks, I already feel like my pants are too tight.”

  “Once I have the sewing crate, I might be able to alter a couple pairs of pants into maternity wear if I have the right supplies or even just flat out make them.” Wendy told them. “I’ll go through the crate tomorrow with Natalie and Tabitha. Then we’ll make a list of what we still need and ask if we can try for it on the next stop.”

“Wow, you’re going to be busy,” Sienna laughed at Wendy.

  “I don’t mind and Natalie volunteered to help with sewing,” Wendy told her.

  “I’m all thumbs in the kitchen which is why I worked the counter in the deli, but fabric and a needle, I got that,” Natalie admitted.

  “All right, then two of you have two jobs each. I’ll let Dezek know you’ll be doing that and helping Moz and Taylor in the gardens.” Sienna told the group. “I also think that we’ll select that type of top for Blanca but Dezek only wants her to have two changes of clothing. He doesn’t want to risk that she’ll be able to use clothing for kindling again.”

  “Let’s use those drawers over in the wall for the extras,” Taylor said, pointing. “I checked them and they’re empty right now, that way everyone will have access to the spares. Then I’m headed for bed. It’s been a long day. A good day but long.”

  All of the women agreed. They stored the extra clothing items and then picked up their piles and headed off to their quarters. Sienna and Dezek went into her quarters and she set her pile on the bed. She turned to Dezek.

  “I need to take Blanca her two outfits. Want to go with me?”

  “Not really but I will,” he said with a smile. They exited her quarters and proceeded down the hall to Blanca’s room. When the door opened Sienna discovered Blanca had not cleaned the room at all, the floor was still littered with debris. The teen sat on the bed with her back to them.

  “Blanca, I brought you two changes of clothing so you could shower and have clean clothes,” Sienna told her. She didn’t respond at all to them. “I’ll leave them here on the shelf. I’ll also take the dishes with me. Did you have enough to eat?”

  The teen continued to ignore them. Sienna sighed and turned to Dezek who had gathered up the dirty dishes from small bar area where Blanca left them. They exited the room. Inside Sienna’s own quarters Dezek went to the cleaning unit and place the dishes inside and cycled it. He then stacked the clean items on the counter and turned to face Sienna. She was putting the clothing away in drawers in the wall storage unit.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She shook her head. “I’m just going to shower. Goodnight.” She took the remaining items she hadn’t put away and went into the lavatory. He sat down on the small sofa to wait for her. Fifteen minutes later she came out and froze. She hadn’t been expecting him to stay he knew.

  “I thought we said goodnight.”

  “You said goodnight.” He closed the distance between them and with a gentle hand stroked her face. He slid his hand into her hair and lowered his lips to hers. His lips were warm, gentle and coaxing. She had meant to resist him, she really had but once the kiss started she forgot about resisting. Her lips opened for him and she was surprised when he just teased her with his tongue and kept the kiss soft at first. He slowly deepened the kiss and slid one of his arms around her pulling her tight against him. Heat seared through her. She took hold of his tunic to maintain her balance but she didn’t want the kiss to end. He tasted spicy, intoxicating her. The electric tingle that his touch created was now all over her. He nibbled on her bottom lip and then across her jaw. He buried his hand in her dark red curls and claimed her mouth again. She felt like her whole body was in flames when he finally drew back from her slightly. He stood watching her for a moment, his eyes now a deep bronze color with want. He rubbed his thumb gently over her lower lip.

  “Now, we’ve said goodnight,” and with that he walked out the door, smiling.
Damn the man anyway
was all she could think.

***

  Wendy went in search of Fazon after the fashion brain storm in the lounge. She found him by himself lifting weights in one of the gyms on Seventeen. She leaned against the wall just inside of the doorway and watched as muscle rippled beneath his skin. His back was to her and she could see the pattern of spots that started at the nape of his neck where his inky black hair stopped and flowed down his spine to disappear in the waist band of his shorts. The spots obviously didn’t stop where her vision did. They came out from underneath the hem of his shorts, ran down the back of each leg and stopped at the bottom of his heel. She felt a tingling heat at the apex of her thighs as she speculated what his spectacular ass looked like without the shorts and just where all those spots touched.

  “Enjoying the view?” he asked in amused voice.

  “As matter of fact I am,” she smirked. “I am definitely enjoying it. Although I must admit I’m thinking about what the rest of it looks like.”

  He placed the weight he was using on the floor and turned toward at her. His chest looked as though it had been sculpted from granite. He was the largest most magnificent male she’d ever seen. Moisture started to pool at the apex of her thighs. Blanca was a fool she decided, Green was a fantastic color. The spots that started at his temple flowed in an uninterrupted line down his neck, across his shoulder and down the back of his arms to stop just above the knuckles on his massive hands. Her gaze followed the chest to an abdomen that would put every one of those cocky male gym whores on the base she knew to shame. But what intrigued her most was that above where his workout shorts rode low on his hips was a naval similar to her own with a line of spots starting just below. Beneath the legs of his shorts a line of spots appeared on each thigh and ran down the leg stopping just below where his toes started. She couldn’t wait to find out where that line split. The thought of it had all of her lady parts dancing. Her eyes finally came back up to his gaze. He wore an arrogant look that said he knew exactly what was going on in her head. 

  “Are you through with your viewing?” he asked. He stalked slowly toward her. He stopped in front of her and placed his big hands on the wall beside her, caging her. He leaned close. She felt his breath feather across her lips, “You know there’s a viewing fee?”

  “Really? How will I know if the fee is worth it?” Her smile was naughty.

  “Oh, I can guarantee that won’t be an issue,” he told her and his mouth crashed down on hers. He demanded entry and she gave it. His tongue dueled with hers for supremacy. She grabbed his head and her thumbs brushed over the start of the spots. The touch inflamed him. He latched on to her and lifted her, pinning her to the wall with his huge body. Heat pored off of him like blasting furnace. Keeping her pinned to the wall with his hips, his hands began to explore the voluptuous curves. She was soft and silky. He growled and cupped a breast in a huge hand. The nipple hardened and he growled again. He was tempted to tear the shirt in half to get to her. He pulled back from the kiss, his chest heaving. “We can’t do this here.”

  She tried to pull him back to the kiss. “Yes, we can.”

  “No, there’s no door.”

  “I don’t care,” she said and tried to bring him back to her again.

  “I do,” he growled fiercely at her. “I don’t share.” With those words he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her to the lift.

  “What are you doing?” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face or out of her voice.

  “Taking you to my cave,” he said bluntly. She started to laugh and he smacked her bottom which made her laugh more. He carried her into a room, across it to a huge bed and dropped her in it. He stood looking down at her. His eyes were deep bronze and glowing now. “Before this goes further there’s something you need to know.”

  “If you tell me you’re married, engaged, or otherwise claimed, I swear there is no one who can keep me from castrating you after you kissed me and flirted with me through dinner,” she vowed with a vehemence that surprised him. She’d already been down that road with one jerk that lied to her about his marital status. Two months into what she thought was the romance of her life, his wife had shown up at her apartment in tears. Not going there again.

  “If I were taken, I would not have kissed you or flirted with you,” he said with sincerity.

  “Then I don’t think we have anything else that can’t wait,” she smiled suggestively.

  “Unfortunately this cannot wait.”

  She sighed and lay back. “Tell me caveman,” she commanded using the name she called him since dinner. She teased him about it but secretly it thrilled her. She didn’t care if it was modern or not. She loved being a cherished woman that belonged to an alpha male.

  He strode to center of the room and stripped off his gym shorts. The spots beneath his naval didn’t disappoint. They split just above his groin providing a frame for the picture of magnificence that was his cock. Her lady parts went from dancing to rioting and demanding ownership. He grinned knowing her thoughts. His skin shimmered gold and she watched in surprise as his muscle and bone twisted and enlarged to another shape. She blinked.

  There was dragon in the room. Her beautiful green caveman was now a huge dragon. The creature watched her with multifaceted eyes that swirled with bronze and gold colors. His green coloring remained and the spots she decided were more or less in corresponding places but now with gold high lights added to the cresting places on him. She stood and circled him. He was a good twenty feet in length with his shoulder being about seven feet high. She presumed the folded pieces along his back were wings. She came back to stand in front of him.

  “If I have a kid with you I’m not going to lay an egg, am I?” she demanded with a saucy tone and smirk.

  “
No, shrew, you will not lay an egg,
” he laughed and teased her with the name he‘d given her while they flirted through dinner. The laugh was a deep rumbling sound that tickled all her nerve endings while his voice drifted through her mind. She stripped off her shirt and tossed it across his snout. He dipped his head and let the fabric fall. She had stripped off her trousers and now stood in just two pieces of silk.

  “Then put that thing away. I don’t mind calluses on a man’s hands, in fact I actually enjoy the feeling. But I draw the line at talons,” she told him with a sassy smile and went back to stretch out on the bed. She posed provocatively and smiled. He shimmered and shifted back to his original form. He stalked to the bed.

  “I have to punish you now for your sassy mouth, shrew,” he leaned over her.

  “I can’t wait,” she said husky sexy tone as she pulled him down on top of her.

  Vax and Rose entered her quarters on Eighteen still holding hands after playing pa-lovt, a game similar to chess, in the rec room. Vax was content to listen to her mind as it plotted herbal and spice combinations from the tastings the women had done earlier in the day. It amazed him that he could taste the herbs through their connection as she recalled the taste herself from memory and decided which flavors might pair well. If someone had told him a cook would do this in such a methodical mental process he would have laughed outright. Until he met and connected with Rose.

  “
I like the taste of the last pair together,
” he told her.

  “
Was I that loud?
” she blushed. He loved when she blushed though he knew it drove her crazy that she had so little control over how her emotions showed on her delicate skin.

  “
I’ve been ‘talking’ my whole life and never tasted anything another was eating, much less recalling. This is new for me also and I’m considered one of the strongest empaths and telepaths on our world. You’re going to make me hungry again.
”

  “
After the amount you consumed in the dining hall, there is absolutely NO way you can possibly be hungry again,
” she thought, laughing.

  “
What can I say I’m a growing boy!
”

  “
You eat like that at every meal and it’ll be your waistline growing,
” she told him smiling. They sat on the small sofa. He turned on a piece of music that was soft and flowing. It reminded Rose of wooden flutes played back home by the Navajo when she’d gone places on the reservation to volunteer or take food to some of the elderly people who were on their own with Taylor. The music always made Rose feel at peace and comforted by the sounds.

“
Have you been peeking around in my head?
” she asked.

  He didn’t answer but she could tell by how still he was that the answer was yes.

  “
You have! That’s cheating you know,
” she teased him. He laughed then. When he thought she was starting to fall asleep he sent her to cleanse and change for bed. She reappeared a short time later and crawled into the bed. He pulled the covers over her and leaned down to kiss her lips very gently. Her eyes opened and she watched him. “
You could stay,
” she told him sleepily.

  “
Sienna would have my head affixed to bow of the ship the minute she found out,
” he laughed, “
and Dezek would let her
.”

  “
Probably,
” she mused as her eyes drifted closed again.

  “
Definitely!
” he told her. He watched her drift off and then took himself away from the temptation of the beautiful young woman who in little more than a day had claimed his heart, spirit and mind. He wanted nothing more than to climb in next to her and stay but he knew Sienna wouldn’t like it. Sienna loved Rose and wanted what was best for her. So he would wait until Sienna understood without question that what Rose needed most was him. His mother had always told him ‘Patience is a virtue, nurture it and it brings good things’. He always thought this was just something mothers said. Now he’d have to confess to her he finally understood.

Leaving the room he found Dezek in the passage way exiting Sienna’s and headed for the lift.

  “I was wondering if I needed to stop and pull you out,” Dezek said with his ever present smile. “I wouldn’t want Sienna mad at me for failing to supervise.”

  “I am aware that Sienna still has reservations about my relationship with Rose especially where our ages are concerned. So I’m taking it slow for both of their sakes. I want Rose to feel completely sure about our relationship. That means convincing the ‘big sister’ too,” Vax told him.

  “That, Kid, is why I make them let me bring you when they would prefer to send someone older,” Dezek told him. “Because despite how young you may be chronologically, you are still more mature than some of the guys who are even older than me.” The compliment made Vax smile. He knew more than once Dezek had fought for him. The two proceeded to crew quarters on Sixteen and turned in for the night both dreaming of two very different red heads.

***

  Ashaa and Rev went back to her quarters after she selected clothing from the things Wendy thought would fit her. Wendy told her she would need to alter some of the hem lines for her. At over six feet Ashaa was very tall for a woman and Wendy knew some of the clothing would be a little short on Ashaa.

  Ashaa put away the clothing and then turned to look at Rev who had fixed them both a hot beverage and now sat on the sofa. She went to sit beside him. He pulled her close and was content to just sit and hold her.

  “Will you tell me about Lar-kevel and our people,” she asked after sitting in silence for a time.

  “Of course,” he responded. “What would you like to know?”

  “I don’t know. I am not even certain what questions to ask. I feel as though I’m floundering here. I’m filled with all of these feelings that aren’t mine and thoughts are whispering around me when all of you ‘talk’. It’s strange for me. I’m used to being alone and isolated even when I was in a room full of people. I feel lost.”

  “You aren’t lost anymore. You’re found. And you will never be alone or isolated again. I will not tolerate it.” His words were a fierce growl that made her smile.

  “You’re something else I’m puzzled over. I just met you but I feel you inside me. Is it because you healed me?”

  “Partly. But it’s because your body and spirit recognize me as your mate. Your brain is having trouble with that because they tried to remove your feelings and teach you do rely on nothing but logic. That doesn’t work for us. As empathic beings we are our emotions and feelings,” he explained patiently.

  “You’re certain of the mate thing? Why?”

  “Because I feel you inside me also. Tota said I would know when I found her and he was right. The moment your beautiful eyes looked into mine I knew. I knew you were the female that would be mine,” he told her in reverent tone.

  “Tota?”

  “It translates to Dad in your human language. Lada means Mom.”

  She was quiet for a few moments. “What will they think of me? What if they can’t accept how I came to be?”

  “Lada will only care that you’re female and she’s finally going to get grandchildren out of her sons after all.”

  “And your father?”

  “Tota will love you because I do,” he said with a smile. He leaned down and kissed her lips gently. He’d meant just to offer comfort but once she parted her lips he was lost. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and dueled with hers. She made a soft purring sound and he dragged her onto his lap. Slipping his hands under her tunic he stroked the spots he could feel on her spine. He nipped his way across her jaw and feathered his lips across her temple where her spots started. She whimpered in his arms and her hands gripped him. She moved then and straddled his lap and claimed his mouth. That had him growling low and deep. He pulled away and buried his face in her neck and held tight while he fought for control of his body and mind.

  “Did I do something wrong?” her voice was a whisper of uncertainty.

  “No. Heavens, no,” he told her quickly and pulled back to look in her eyes. He stood holding her against him. He carried her to the bed and sat her on the edge and knelt in front of her. “I need to show you something before we go any further. It’s required by the rules of our society that we disclose all of our nature to our mate before intimacy,” he explained as he stroked her face. “I don’t know how that applies to you since you are partly one of us. So I’m going to err on the side of caution and show you what you need to know the same way I would if you were any of the four species we’re compatible with.” With these words he stepped back from her and peeled off his shirt. Her mouth watered as she took in the beauty of the sculpted chest and arms that felt as though they were living steel when they were around her. He slipped out of his trousers and stood before her in nothing. His abdomen was as well sculpted as his chest. More spots started just below his naval and separated into two lines that ran down the fronts of his legs to end just before his toes. Her own spots flushed when she realized that Rev was big all over. Her cleft grew moist and she’d never wanted to touch so much ever before. Her eyes which had darkened to bronze while they’d been kissing and touching now started to glow softly. Rev took a breath and then started to shimmer. His hands hit the floor and his bones and muscle shifted into a dragon. Ashaa could only stare and blink. She rose from the bed after a few moments and approached him. He was nearly seven feet at the shoulder, twenty feet in length and had gold markings over his green at the high points. She ran her hands over the spots that flowed down his jaw and long neck causing him to rumble. She ran her hands over muscle and gently pulled on a folded wing. He obliged her by extending the wing as much as the small space would let him. She laughed and returned to look into his eyes.

  “
Nothing to say, my love,
” his voice echoed through her.

  “Can I do this?”

  “
We do not know. There has not been a female Zargazian born in over five hundred years. But the females of the past could yes.
”

  “Do the others know?”

  “
I’m certain with Rose’s connection to Vax being so strong that yes she is aware. Sienna, I do not know if Dezek has shared this with her yet. But I suspect Moz is sharing with Taylor tonight.
”

  “You’re gorgeous this way too,” she said with smile and returned to the bed. He drew a breath, shimmered and once again bone and muscle twisted to return him to his biped form.

  “Do you want to try? Vax tells me you’re completely healed,” he said from where he knelt in front of her. Her face turned thoughtful.

  “I do want to try,” she told him rising from the bed again. He took her place sitting on the bed and said a small prayer to the heavens. He wasn’t sure what he was praying to have happen only that he wanted her safe. She went to the center of the room where he had been and stripped off her clothes. Rev was frozen in awe. Her breasts were round, full and firm. They would easily fill even his massive hands. Her nipples were dark green like their spots and his own. Her spots started just under her pretty nipples and flowed in two lines that joined at her naval and then separated again below it to flow down her legs making a perfect X across her flat smooth stomach. His mouth watered. He wanted to kiss every spot she had. He wanted to dip his tongue in the spot marked by X. She was a damn treasure map and she was his. He growled low in his body. He couldn’t stop the sound any more than he could stop his heart from beating. Her spots flushed darker and she smiled shyly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her skin shimmered gold and then her body began to twist and shape. She fell forward on her hands then in another moment she completed the shift. He could feel her smiling.

  “Congratulations, you’re a Gazian, my beauty,” he told her with proud smile. She fluttered her wings and twisted her head and viewed herself. Then she turned back to him. He stood and walked to her. He mimicked her earlier move and ran his large hands across her spots. Like him she shivered and rumbled.

  “
I want to fly.
”

  “When we get home, not before then,” he told her firmly.

  “
We’re stopping on Saneera and several others. Nowhere?
”

  “Unfortunately not my love,” he told her with regret. “You see people believe the Zargazians are extinct and we’re content to allow them that belief. We represent ourselves as a race called Saavins in the gold camouflage you met us in. Let me explain. We didn’t always have the ability to heal at will. Anyone we touched would just start healing by having contact with us. This was true of injury and illness. The leadership of our home world had issued the decree that we were to use our healing capabilities for diplomatic relations. Once the other races had learned what we could do and that we had no control over it that’s when the abductions and abuses started. Many of our children were stolen. Many of our people were abducted and forced into servitude. Other races would use us to heal during wars or epidemics and then discard the spent beings once they were too used up to heal any longer or even survive. Then they would abduct more. Thousands and thousands of us were killed in this manner. So a group of scientists found a way to activate a gene in our DNA that would allow us to control the ability. There was a revolution because the government did not want the information used or even tested. They kept saying they were making progress with the other races. The scientists went rogue and simply released the activator into the water systems across the planet and it gave us control. In less than five years every Zargazian could control the ability to heal so then they only stole children they could manipulate.”

  “Then in less than fifty years all births were male only. It was then that they realized their ‘gift’ had an unintended and catastrophic consequence. Our people split into several factions based on beliefs and demands of how the issue should be handled. One of the groups decided to leave all together while the other three groups fought with one another as well as other races who continued to steal children. Eventually, the other races and the fighting groups destroyed the planet and themselves. Extinction. The bright only spot in the story is that along with the ability to control our healing ability came the ability to camouflage our coloring to gold hiding our distinctive green and spots. So we never show ourselves now. We protect our secret and the location of our planet with extreme zealousness now. And we choose a mate from four races we’re compatible with.” He finished the sad tale with a shake of his head. “History lesson over.”