Water World Warrior: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 1) (10 page)

It would be better if we kept busy with other people around.

I expected him to take me to the main dock where his crew anchored The Dream. He surprised me by taking me to a little inlet down the beach instead. Moored there was a sailboat large enough for two or three people.

"If you're going to learn to sail," he said, "You should start small."

"Is that what we're doing?" I said.

"Being on Vandwan for a year you're going to be on the sea, trust me. If you're going to be on sailing ships, you need to have a rudimentary knowledge of what's going on."

"I know you have to duck when that thing swings across," I said. "I know that much."

He grimaced.

"We'll start with vocabulary," he said, pushing a little rowboat into the water and holding it for me. "Climb in."

We sailed all morning, with him teaching me how to pull things and duck when the boom swung across. I felt quite accomplished at the end. For his part, he seemed surprised at how quickly I picked it up. I wondered again if he thought I was a dumb blonde.

When I had found out that he was a scientist, I imagined that he would be nerdy. Could you get more prejudiced and stereotypical than that? I was upset he might think like that about me!

But he hadn't turned out to be a nerd at all. Nathaniel was sitting relaxed on the back of the boat — the stern, I reminded myself — wearing only shorts and a muscle shirt. His powerful legs and firm biceps were on display for my perusal. I wondered when I would give myself permission to do what I wanted to do with him.

Was I going to wait until I saw him again, sometime next month? When we were strangers again and would have to get used to each all over? Did that make sense?

Where did I get that rule that I couldn't sleep with someone I had only known a couple of days? There had been that stupid one night stand… why shouldn't I sleep with him?

He was my husband, for fuck's sake. I could have sex with him if I wanted to.

And I wanted to. Every nerve in my body was on high alert when he came near me. My libido was in overdrive. The desire was oozing out of every pore.

He was trying to tone it down, but I could tell he felt the same way. It was a little harder for him to hide it.

It would be a mistake if he would be at sea for such a long time. The whole thing was temporary, and I knew I would get my heart broken. I already felt empty when I thought of him leaving. The most difficult part was that I wasn't going to have anything to do to keep my mind off of missing him.

I didn't only want him, but I liked him, too. He was considerate.

Nathaniel was not a nerd. He was strong and sexy and sweet and kind. He had a certain aura of danger about him. Being a Captain and a sailor was about the sexiest thing I could imagine. If I had planned a perfect man for myself, I couldn't have done better than Nathaniel.

And yet, I didn't want to get my heart involved too deeply. We were married, but we hadn't promised each other anything. It would be dangerous to fall in love with Nathaniel because our relationship had a timer.

That's why you should have sex with him now, the devil on my shoulder whispered. You have to live for the moment. He could be gone, and you'll never know what you missed.

The devil had a point.

But what if he hurts you? Better to stay far away from that. You have to keep your feet on the ground, Ashlyn.

I glanced at Nathaniel again, and he was doing something with rope — his biceps looking strong and his face too handsome for me. The wind was blowing his dark brown hair. He noticed me watching him and gave me a grin.

'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? I thought.

That's all fine until you get your heart broken, the angel said. Just don't come crying to me.

Nathaniel was going to be a mess of trouble. I wasn't sure I could stop myself from falling for him even if I wanted to.

Nathaniel pulled into a small harbor and moored the boat.

"Let's grab some lunch."

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in a restaurant called Home Sweet Home. I opened the menu, and my mouth dropped open.

He clapped his hands together.

"You hungry?" he said.

"These dishes are from Earth. They're normal food."

"Well," he tilted his head from side to side. "I beg to differ on the normal food comment, but they are definitely from Earth. Metsi has the largest population of Terran ex-pats. One of them decided he could make money in nostalgia and homesickness. And here we are."

"Thank you so much, Nathaniel. It's sweet of you," I said, and he blushed. "Not that Vandwan food isn't lovely. It is pretty good. But there's nothing like the taste of home."

I ordered a Caesar salad, a club sandwich with fries and gravy, apple pie with vanilla ice cream, and a milkshake. After questioning me about various dishes with a grossed out look on his face, he decided on the Caesar salad, too, with garlic toast. He had never tried bread before.

I stared out at the harbor while we waited for our food. A woman on a sailboat caught my eye. She lifted her arms over her head, clasped her hands, and dove into the clear water. I watched for a long moment, waiting for her to come up.

She didn't.

I brought it up when my worry became overwhelming. "Nathaniel," I said. "Did you see that woman in the blue swimsuit dive into the water?"

"Mm, hm," he said, not looking up from where he was perusing the dessert menu with a puzzled look on his face.

"She hasn't broken the surface. What if she's in trouble?"

"In trouble?" he looked up at me, confused.

"You know. Drowning?"

He gazed at me in disbelief.

"I doubt she's drowning," he said, staring at me. Then understanding came into his eyes. "Winds and sea, Ashlyn. We can swim for much longer than you can."

"Oh, right," I said, feeling relieved.

I supposed that Vandwans could hold their breath for a long time, like pearl divers back on Earth. Just as I was about to ask Nathaniel more about it, the server came back with our drinks. I was so eager to try my strawberry milkshake that asking about the woman went completely out of my head.

"Are you missing home?" he asked. His tone was so considerate that tears came to my eyes, surprising me.

"Yeah," I said. "I guess I am. I forget because everything's so new, and we've been on adventures that take my mind off of it. But at night, when I'm alone, it's hard."

"Maybe you shouldn't be alone at night," he said. I looked up quickly, wondering if that was sexual innuendo. Nope. He seemed concerned about me. "I'm your husband, Ashlyn. I'd like to help."

"You mean sleep in the same bed?"

"Just sleep," he said. "So you wouldn't have to be alone. Isn't that why people get married? So they don't have to sleep alone anymore?"

He was serious.

"I think people get married for a lot of reasons, and that's probably one of them. But are you sure we could just sleep?"

He held his hands up.

"I can restrain myself if you can."

Liar.

When it came to Nathaniel, I wasn't sure if I could hold back anymore. I felt my resolve weakening every time he did something thoughtful. Every time he looked at me with those startling eyes of his. Every time he touched me.

The server came and set our dishes in front of us.

"Of course you can..." I said once she was gone. Dropping my eyes to my plate, I went on. "But can I?"

NATHANIEL

I had been on edge ever since Ashlyn had dropped the bomb on me at dinner. Was she saying that she thought she wouldn't be able to control herself if I was sleeping in the bed next to her? Did she want me that much?

I had thought that maybe she liked me. Her attraction to me was plain enough when we kissed. To have both the liking and the physical attraction in large enough doses to want to have sex with me was a revelation.

Still, I wondered if it would be a mistake. If I buried myself into her sweet body one time, I wasn't sure if I would be able to forget about her and go on my way. I had a feeling I would need to do it again and again and I might never get enough.

She was already under my skin and I was pretty sure that sleeping with her might make the longing I felt worse.

But I did want to sleep with her tonight without the requirement of physical relations. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to help her forget her sadness.

I wanted to be there for her.

My feelings surprised me. I had never had a long term girlfriend. You know sailors — a girl in every port. Stereotypes exist for a reason. I slept around and even had a girlfriend for a few weeks or months at a time. Miralee had been the last.

It had never been anything serious, and none of them had made me feel the way Ashlyn did. Right now, I felt like I needed her as much as I needed oxygen.

We stood in the hallway next to her bedroom door. I was standing too close to her, but I couldn't help it. I bent and pressed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Goodnight, Ash," I said, softly tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear.

"You never called me that before."

"What? Ash?"

She nodded.

"I like it," she said. "That's what people close to me call me."

"Am I close to you?"

Her breathing was coming a little faster. I could tell because her breasts were rising and falling in a most distracting manner.

"My friends call me that, too."

"I'm not your friend, Ash."

"You're not? I thought we were friends."

"I'm your husband."

"What do you want right now, husband?" she said, searching my eyes.

"I want to take you to bed."

And I did, but not in the way that both of us had hoped I would.

We did make out for a while, but then we stopped. Again. I was getting backed up by this point. Both of us knew that if we went that far, there was no coming back.

We reluctantly put on our pajamas, brushed our teeth, and crawled under the covers.

She kissed me one more time and then faced away from me. I pressed my body up against hers. I couldn't help the erection. Maybe it would go down someday, but not when I was lying next to my sexy wife.

I wondered if I would get even one minute of sleep, but none of that mattered when she spoke into the darkness.

"Thanks so much for this, Nathaniel. Tonight I might get some sleep," she said, yawning. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her a little closer.

"You rest, Ash. I'll be here."

NATHANIEL

I stood on the deck of The Dream. The sun was rising, and the gray sky was turning a delicate pink color. We had made another raid and stashed the supplies safely below deck. We were ready to make the drop-off.

Ashlyn was sleeping in the Captain's quarters below. I wasn't sure what I had thought when I allowed her to come with us, but I was glad that she was here.

The wind kept our speed steady, and I knew that we would be clear of the restricted zone in about an hour.

As I kept watch, a ship appeared on the horizon, exactly like before when they caught us. Not again! They gave chase, and I yelled orders to increase our speed. We unfurled additional sails. The Dream leapt ahead of the other ship for a moment, but then it continued gaining on us. No matter what we did, it got closer and closer.

They fired a shot across our bow. There was no way I would let them put a hole in The Dream, so we came to rest, and they boarded. It was Inspector Callaghan, of course.

"You're under arrest, Lachlan," he said. "And I'm going to have to take Mrs. Lachlan into custody, too."

"What?" I said, frowning. "Why?"

"Standard procedure," he said.

It was not standard procedure.

Two other police officers came up from the hold, dragging Ashlyn with them. She was still in her pajamas. They began to hustle her towards the rail.

"Nathaniel?" she asked, looking confused.

"You can't take her," I said, and I ran over. Immediately there were three other police officers restraining me.

"She didn't do anything," I said. I tried to sound reasonable and not like a madman, but I could feel myself getting hysterical. They couldn't take her.

"We're holding her for questioning. You, Mr. Lachlan, are going to jail."

They began putting cuffs on me.

"Nathaniel," Ashlyn said again. "I'll be all right. Don't worry."

She was too trusting. The men who were taking her were probably as corrupt as the ship runners. How could I not worry?

I dropped my head a little, feeling beaten. I felt the cuffs closing around my wrists.

"That's right," the Inspector said with satisfaction. He leaned in and whispered to me. "You're going to tell us everything, Lachlan, or I can't answer for what might happen to the girl."

"What?" I said, whipping my head up. "What did you say?"

"I said, you better behave and sing like the pretty canary you are, or else the girl gets hurt."

"No," I said, lunging at him.

A police officer took her arm and helped her on board the other ship.

"You can't take her!" I shouted. "She hasn't done anything wrong!"

The Inspector laughed.

I couldn't believe this was happening. I struggled to get away, but the men held me fast. "Ashlyn!"

The law-enforcement officers ignored me. Ashlyn turned and gave me one last look before she ducked her head and went down below into the other ship's hold, disappearing from my sight.

"No!" I howled. I couldn't lose her. "Ashlyn!"

The officer that was holding me started shaking me by the shoulders.

"Let me go," I said, trying to twist away from him.

"Nathaniel. Nathaniel! Wake up!"

It was Ashlyn's voice. But I had seen her being led away…

I opened my eyes and looked into Ashlyn's worried face. The room was dark, but the light from two of the moons was coming in the window, illuminating the bed. When I glanced out the west window where the sun comes up, I could see that the sky was beginning to lighten.