A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) (24 page)

“And this is small?” whispered Carol Ann.

The team entered the control room. The Oceanans hurried to check if all the systems were still operational. Everything was exactly the way Leonora had left them.

She swirled her chair around and faced them. “We have a problem.”

“What sort of problem?” inquired Lance, a little edgy. He did not like hearing those words.

Tigif and Leonora shared a look. Tigif returned to his controls and continued to send the SOS signal to the Seacats.

“What’s wrong?” Rick moved to stand in front of her. “Isn’t everything the way you left it?”

“Oh, everything is exactly the way I left it.”

“Then you and Tigif can leave before the army finds you,” Lance eagerly put in.

Rick panicked. He knew he had to give Leonora up, but he did not want it to happen so soon. They had been lovers for only a week. He wanted more time. He stared at her. How could he tell her not to leave? How could he be selfish, after everything she had endured? He could not. It would have to be her choice. And whatever she decided, he would have to accept it.

“I am afraid we cannot do that,” replied Leonora.

Rick closed his eyes and released his held breath.

“Why not?” inquired Carol Ann.

“It slipped my mind that we do not have enough fuel to make it all the way back to Oceana. You see, for us to reach Oceana in six tides, we will have to travel at warpspeed three. However, we do not have enough fuel to reach warpspeed,” she explained. “And to travel outside of warpspeed would mean never reaching our world within this century.”

“What’s warpspeed?” asked Carol Ann.

“Moving past the speed of light,” explained Rick.

“Correct.” Leonora smiled at him.

“Then…what you’re saying is that you’re stuck here,” said Lance.

Leonora nodded.

Lance’s head lowered. He walked a few steps away from the group, obviously in thought.

“At least until the Seacats come for us,” spoke Tigif from the communication control board. He looked at Leonora. “I have sent the message. All we have to do is wait.”

“Is there a way to tell if they received your distress signal?” inquired Rick.

“They will,” said Tigif confidently. “It is only a matter of time before they arrive.”

“How long will that take?” Rick met Leonora’s gaze.

“You were not listening,
human,”
replied Tigif. “It takes six tides to travel from our planet to yours on top speed.”

Six months. That should be enough to gather my strength to let her go
. Deep down Rick knew six lifetimes would not come close.

Lance brought Rick back from his thoughts with his question. “What about your ship? We can’t very well leave it here.”

“I think it is best to place it in the ocean near Rick’s home. That way, when the others hone in on her beacon, they will arrive there.”

“In the ocean?” asked Carol Ann. “Are you serious?”

“This craft is an amphibian spaceship—built for land, sea, and space travel,” Leonora proudly explained. “All of our vessels are.”

“Wow,” voiced Rick.

Lance regarded Leonora through narrowed eyes. “Didn’t you finish saying you don’t have enough fuel to fly her out of here?”

“We have seven days worth of fuel left.”

“I see.”

“Why didn’t you come better prepared?” inquired Carol Ann. She fingered several blinking lights on a nearby panel.

“The fuel department was left up to Leo. During all the excitement of preparing to leave, he forgot to pack up extra energy spheres. He did not remember until we were already here.”

Not waiting to be asked, she went on to explain, “An energy sphere is something like a Frisbee full of Searia, a natural power resource from our planet that gives off an enormous amount of energy. Left undisturbed, beneath the ocean’s crust, it would give off power forever. But when contained and used to power our cities, homes, and ships, we noticed it had to be replaced after seven tides of constant use. We were about to meet our seventh
_-
tide quota, when his troops showed up.” Leonora pointed at Lance.

Rick read the distrust on her face. He glanced at his friend. He did not blame her. However, he would have to reassure her of Lance’s loyalty later.

Unperturbed, Lance clapped his hands. “Then what are we waiting for? Can you fly this thing?”

“She can fly anything that is airborne,” replied Tigif.

“Strap yourselves in, everyone. We are going for a little ride.”

Identical surprised, dubious expressions fell over the humans’ faces. Leonora spun toward the control panels with a huge smile on her face.

Lance and Carol Ann took turns driving back to California. Against Rick’s wishes, Leonora remained behind to fly the ship to the beach house. Rick did not want to leave her, not after seeing firsthand what would happen to her if the army captured her. Leonora had insisted that she would be all right. She reassured him that she would be waiting for him at his home. So, with a tender kiss, Leonora said good-bye to a very distraught Rick and took off.

Before Lance pulled into the driveway, Rick leapt out of the moving car and charged toward the house. He had been on edge for six days. To keep his whining to a minimal, the others ate and slept in the car. They stopped only to use the restrooms when it was time to buy gas.

Rick jammed the key into the keyhole. In his urgency to open the lock, he nearly broke it. He shoved the door open, banging it
into the wall. “Nora!” He raced through the entire first floor like a madman, slamming all the doors behind him. “Nora!”

Rick’s fears were running wild. His memories drifted back to the last time he had raced to his home. His loved one had died in his arms that day. He could not go through that a second time. His prayers increased, as did his yelling.
“Nora!”

“Rick, calm down. Can’t you hear the shower is running? Jesus,” scolded Carol Ann shaking her head at her brother. She settled on the sofa on a long sigh.

Rick stopped to listen. He heard the sound of water, rushing through the pipes. “Dear God, you’re right. It is going.”

He ran up the stairs, two at a time, to the second level. He hurried to the third bathroom, farthest away from the front of the house. He entered and locked the door behind him. In the standalone shower, he found Leonora, enjoying a hot shower, unaware that the most deadly predator on Earth was watching her.

Her ignorance to his presence made Rick queasy. Anyone could have been there in his stead, including the enemy. His eyebrows lowered in anger. The possibility of her being raped or killed before he arrived made Rick more anxious to be near her. He removed his clothes without a sound. He tugged the frameless glass door open. Leonora turned around. His presence startled her.

“Rick! Great Onssa! I never smelled or heard you come in. Blast that open window!” She glared at the open window built within the tiled shower walls. It was open wide. Beyond it was a breathtaking view of the ocean.

Rick promised he would make it up to her for scaring her, but first, he needed to reassure himself that she was all right. He closed the shower door. Gently, he pinned her soap-covered body against the tiled wall beside the window.

“That’s not good, Nora. Anyone could’ve come in here and hurt you. You should’ve been better aware.”

His deep, low voice and dark blue eyes were a dead giveaway. Leonora knew exactly where his thoughts were as he lovingly held her against the wall with his body. If any doubts lingered, it disappeared at the feel of his rigid manhood at her hips.

Rick’s suds-filled hands caressed the sides of her torso and hips and down her outer thighs, and up her inner thighs. They roamed around her body as if he were a sculptor and she were clay. Before Rick arrived, Leonora was fantasying about his form of lovemaking. Her body was already aching for his. Rick’s solid presence only added fuel to an already burning cauldron. With a few firm thrusts of his fingers into her wetness, along with several flicks of his thumb over her hardened nub, Leonora poured into Rick’s hand.

“Nora,” he groaned. Rick grabbed Leonora’s left arm and spun her around. Nudging her legs apart with his right knee, he held her waist firmly and sought her entrance.

“Not from behind, Rick.” She tried to escape his hold before he entered her. “I want to look at you.”

“But I want to.” His heart pounded. Holding her tighter, Rick kept her in place and slipped inside. Leonora bolted forward releasing him.

“No!” she snapped. In a more seductive tone, she added, “I want to look at you. I want to enjoy your beauty, your strength, as well as your prowess. But I cannot if you take me from behind.”

Truth was Oceanans had only one form of birth control. Their natural reproductive system. When the male enters the female from behind, the position of his manhood stimulates a part within her called the pulser, which cannot be stroked properly in any other position.

The pulser, when properly stimulated in conjunction with the proper stimulation of the nape and spinal cord, would cause the female to ovulate, enabling conception to take place. Leonora did not feel it was prudent to explain. She believed avoiding the position should be enough protection from getting pregnant.

Rick was about to protest. He really wanted to view Leonora’s derriere as he sheathed himself inside the hottest, sweetest body known to man, but he was close to climaxing. Therefore, he decided another time would have to suffice.

Quickly lifting Leonora off the floor, he wrapped her legs around his waist. With a groan, he plunged inside her. Several
deep thrusts against the steaming shower wall and Rick found his peace of mind.

Monday, the 10th of March, Year 1993

Rick’s Beach Home

Leonora was in the kitchen washing dishes and humming an Oceanan tune when a familiar scent reached her nose. Her relaxed posture stiffened. Tigif entered the kitchen. He had drastically changed within the last seven tides. He had become evil, spiteful, and downright feral.

Leonora did her best not to be alone in the same room with him. She no longer trusted him and feared what he might do. Unfortunately, Rick had left earlier to buy groceries, and Carol Ann and Lance had gone off for a stroll on the beach. She had hoped for one of them to return before the feline noticed the house was empty and approached her. She had no such luck. She sensed him stopping behind her.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, sleeping with the enemy.”

“What do you want?” Her words were sharp and brisk.

Tigif roughly whirled her to face him. “I want you!” He pinned her to the counter. “I want you to leave McCall and come to me.” His eyes darkened dangerously in front of her.

“Release me at once. How dare you touch me!”

Tigif ignored her words and kissed her. Rick entered the kitchen, carrying bags of grocery. He froze in place. The sight of his kitten in Tigif’s arms brought on the familiar beast he had not felt since their first time on the beach. Before he could respond, Leonora hooked her leg behind one of Tigif’s and pushed against his chest. The feline fell backward onto the floor.

“You’re lucky I promised Leonora that I wouldn’t shoot you.” Rick walked up to the counter farthest from them and placed the bags on the granite countertop. He made his warning in his most lethal, menacing tone, along with a look of savagery that would make
a dead man tremble. “But I suggest you don’t push your luck. For I
will
forget my promise and kill you if I
ever
see you touch her again.”

Rick’s glare remained unfaltering as a glowering Tigif got up from the floor, brushed off his clothes, and left the kitchen. Rick switched his attention to Leonora. She was facing the sink with her eyes closed and head lowered. He paused behind her and snaked his arms around her waist. His lips lowered to her neck.

“I can kill him, you know, if it’ll make you feel any better.” Flushing her backside to his hips, he kissed her skin.

He was serious. He wished she would say yes. He detested the orange-and-black troublemaker. Leonora leaned her head on his chest. The three top buttons on her tan blouse were open. Rick got a bird’s-eye view of a white bra that kept her snug within its lacy confinements. Need gathered in his loins. Not about to walk away from a delectable offering, Rick’s hands rose to open the remaining buttons.