Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron) (13 page)

“I can do it.  I will speak to them.  I have handled tough audiences before.  You should have seen me at the board meeting when I put my Cousin Michael in charge of the firm.  Thank you for listening Commander, I really appreciate you taking the time,” Grace said to Zeb smiling from ear to ear. 

“Well, it's like this.  I have to check in at the command center and look in on my crew then I am going to make it back to Avery as soon as I can.”  Zeb said as he got up and slapped his friend on the back.  “It was really nice meeting you Grace.  I want you to know that you have one of the best men on my ship to call your mate.  Believe it or not though, I think he is the lucky one to have won you.  I think you two are well matched.”  He smiled at Grace and turned toward the door.  Looking over his shoulder at Zane he said, “See you later Zane.  While you are at it you might want to prepare Grace for the council.  She will need all the help she can get.  But, I think from what she said to me, she might actually succeed in getting what she wants.  She already has my vote.”

“Will do, Commander,” Zane said as he smiled at Grace while the door began to slide shut.

Zane looked at Grace with admiration.  He had never met anyone that captivated his heart as she did.  She returned his gaze with a smile and said, “That went really well, right?”

“You did great!  I hope the council will approve your request.  I will have to prepare you though.  Zeb is right. The members of the council are rather opinionated and set in their ways so to speak.”  Gods, she was beautiful when she smiled like that, Zane thought to himself.  How was it that she touched every emotion in his being? He was so proud of her courage and tact.  She was a bright star on a dark night.  He wanted her with him forever and hoped she would feel the same about him one day soon.

Grace walked over to the bar and poured herself a glass of the green juice.  “So, what’s for dinner?”   As she took a sip of the juice, she remembered that this was what she drank in the holding room before the auction.  She had meant to ask what it was.  “What is this drink?”

“You are drinking leppa juice.  It is a common fruit found on my planet that is about the size of one of these dinner plates.  For dinner I rehydrated some fish that we call fouson.  It is found in freshwater streams that run near our homes.  This is ugula; it grows under the ground and is roasted with spices.  And for desert, we will have panea, which is sweet bread similar to your cake.”

“Wait a minute.  Did you say you rehydrated the food?”  Grace asked, trying to make sure that she heard him right.

“Yes, I did.  See here under the cooking cabinet, or microwave as you refer to it, is another cooking device.   It is called a food rehydrator.  The food is packaged in a compact form dehydrated like this.”  He went to the cabinet and pulled out a package of odd size and shape.  “You tear open the package, place the contents on the plate and place it in here.”  He opened the door to the rehydrator, illustrating every move like a game show hostess.  “You close the door and press this button.  Meanwhile, the rehydrator scans the food and sets up the time that is necessary along with the water needed to rehydrate and heat it.  It displays a time but you will not be able to read it as it is in my written language.  I can teach you later if you want.  Most foods take about 5 of your Earth minutes to prepare with larger bulky foods taking about 15 to 20 minutes.”

“That is pretty cool.  Can we eat now?”  Grace looked at her food.  Amazed that the food on her plate was once a very short while ago dry as a bone and now was moist and steaming from the heat.  The smell of the kitchen was so enticing and her stomach began to growl in protest.  She could not wait to dig into the food.  Zane sat next to her as she bowed her head and made the sign of the cross from her head to her abdomen then shoulder to shoulder.

“What did you just do?”  Zane asked. He had never seen anything like it.

“What?”  Not realizing that she had done anything out of the ordinary.

“You closed your eyes and made some kind of gesture with your hand.”  Zane looked at her with his eyebrows raised.  He was mimicking what he saw her do.

She had done this all her life.  She was born to a Catholic family and sent to a Catholic boarding school.  It was something that she did normally and unconsciously.  She always blessed her food and made the sign of the cross before she took her first bite.  “Oh, that,” she smiled. ”Where I am from, I learned from an early age to bless the food before I ate it.  It is the way we pay respect to the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, the holy trinity in my religion.  It is customary in my religion to thank God for providing me something good to eat.  Don’t you have a God or deity you worship on your planet?”

“Okay, now that makes sense.”  It dawned on him.  “There are many Gods we worship.   However, we should save that conversation for another day.  It would take far too long to talk about the Gods of Theron when we really need to prepare you for the council first.  Do you have any idea how you will propose your mission?”

“Mission, I kind of like the way that sounds.”  Looking up at the ceiling in thought, “I think that I will start as I did with Zeb.  I will be sure to emphasize that I am completely willing to accompany you to your planet. Then, I will let them know that I am willing to give up my fortune to the women of Earth and the children that result from the union between us and the Theron Warriors.  I will present it as a message of good will solidifying the future relationship of our planets.  I would like to mention my obligations for the businesses I own but I am not sure that they would care even care about that.  I might use that tactic if it is starting to go downhill.  You will accompany me on this mission, right?”

“Of course I will!  I would not have it any other way.  It would also help solidify the confidence the council would require to ensure your return.”

They both focused their attention to the plates in front of them.  Grace said after swallowing her first bite of fouson, “This has an odd texture.  It is like nothing I have ever tasted before.  I guess it tastes alright,” she said as she moved it around the plate.”  She tried the ugula. “This is pretty good too, it tastes like potatoes.”  She ate most of them but left a few, the fouson remained mostly untouched.  The panea was good it was like a pound cake.  “You are a good cook Zane.”

Zane smiled, delighted that she was enjoying some of the food he prepared.  If only she knew he did not have much to do with it.  It was already prepackaged that way.  He decided he would not tell her that and enjoy the praise she was sending in his direction.  When he went shopping, he only bought the best.  This was some of the best food that the ship had to offer to cook in ones quarters.  He rarely went out as busy as he normally was.  He was looking forward to introducing her to many different foods but he knew now that she did not particularly care for the fouson.  Tomorrow he would try something else.

After dinner and desert they cleaned the dishes together, Grace wanting to learn all she could about what to do with everything in the apartment so she would be self sufficient when he was out working.  He showed her the dishwasher and how to use it, then briefly went over where everything was and what it was if she asked.  Once they finished with cleaning up, it was kind of late so he let her go and take a shower while he worked in his office for a bit.  When she was finished and dressed for bed, she called for him to take his shower.

When he came out wearing only his pajama pants Grace was awed at the physique of the man that stood before her.  She had to catch her jaw before it dropped to the floor.  His skin was lightly tanned and his body was, OH MY GOD!  She couldn’t even think with this perfect God-like being in front of her.   Holy hell, were all Therons this perfect?  Gathering her wits about her, she finally spoke to him, “W-w-well, I k-k-know that you don’t want to sleep on that tiny sofa again.  I am willing to share the bed, but on one condition.”

“I will agree to anything!  My back cannot take another night on the sofa.  However, I need to ask one thing of you as well.  What is the condition?”  Zane asked.  He looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept well in days.

“I know that I am your mate and this translates in my language as “married to you” so to speak.  I just wanted to be sure that even though we share this bed, would it be alright if we took it slow?  I just met you two days ago and I don’t want to start a physical relationship until we get to know one another better.”  It was hard for Grace to say this.  Her body was screaming at her to take him to bed and let him ravage her.  However, her mind was telling her that she needed to be patient.  He would be hers for the rest of her life. “What did you want to ask?”

He looked at her, sexy as hell, sitting on the right side of the bed.  He almost let it go; maybe it was not worth mentioning.  It took him a few seconds to answer.  “You are sleeping on my side of the bed.  Would it be possible for you to take the other side?  I will understand if you don’t want to but I have always slept on the right side of the bed.”

She scooted over to the left side of the bed, journal and pen in hand, and looked at him expectantly.  She lifted the covers inviting him to join her.

He sauntered over to the bed and said, “I am willing to take as much time as you need to get accustomed to me.  I have grown very fond of you over the last five days.  I have never wanted or admired anyone as much as I do you.  You can let me know when you are ready and I will respect your wishes.  We will have no physical relationship until you indicate otherwise.”

Grace was shocked.  Was this guy perfect or what?  Wait a minute she thought.  “The last five days???  How long have you been watching me?” She spoke her thoughts aloud.

Zane started turning beet red as he looked into her beautiful green eyes.  “Is there any way we can talk about this tomorrow?  I am really tired.”  He tried to convey a very pathetic and tired appearance, hoping she would let this slip of his tongue go until morning.  He really did not want to discuss this now or ever.  To be honest, he was hoping that maybe the Gods would intercede and she would forget he even mentioned it in the first place.

She could see the exhaustion clearly displayed on the well formed features of his face.  She actually felt vindicated, elated actually.  She was so worried that she was losing her mind when she experienced that unsettling feeling on the beach that someone was watching her.  Now, she knew it was him all along.  She looked at him with a knowing smile and said, “Sure, good night Zane.”  She put her pen in the silver case and placed both the pen and journal on the end table by the bed.

Zane said aloud, “Lights out.” The lights in the room responded to his voice.  All the lights in the rooms went out but, all along the base of the walls was a gentle glow of lights that remained on.  They were not bright by any means.  They gave just enough light to see where you could walk in case the need arose to get out of bed to light the way in the dark room.  She laid down on her pillow listening to Zane breathe until she could tell he was asleep.  His rhythmic breathing made her eyelids heavy and she fell into a deep sleep shortly after.

Zane awoke about 6 hours later with Grace snuggled up against him.  He did not think this was intentional on her part.  However, a body part
with a mind of its own of his was making it clear that he really liked it.  He got up and went to the bathroom, coaxing his involuntary member to behave so he could pee and start his day.  Zane wasn’t one to sleep for long periods. He only needed 5 to 6 hours tops.  It was a good thing in his field of work to not require much sleep as emergencies happened at all times of the day and night. 

He washed his hands and face and wet his hair, running his fingers through it to make his short dark hair stand straight up.  He then returned to the bedroom and stood in awe.  The beautiful woman sleeping in his bed was his mate and he would spend the rest of his life with her.  She was so peaceful in sleep, her dark red locks spread out over the pillow.  When she was awake, he could see the wheels in her head turning, questioning and taking in everything.  She was an amazing woman.  Zeb was right when he told Grace that he was lucky to have won her.  He was going to do all he could to give her the best life possible with him.  Right now though, he was going to call the clinic to check in and then he was going to make her a good breakfast.