A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) (27 page)

Rick glared at her. “You haven’t been open with me since the beginning.”

“I know, and I am so sorry about that. Please, Rick, please forgive me.”

Rick frowned at her. “How? I feel like you deliberately tricked me into caring for you.”

“What!”

“You led me to believe that you were in your early twenties. You knew the laws of this planet, yet you neglected to tell me before it all happened.” He pointed to himself then to her. “Before we happened, you should have told me your age. How the bloody hell do you think that makes me feel?”

“I…I just wanted to be with you.” Her eyes begged him to understand.

“Yeah, well, we don’t always get what we want, now do we?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you lied to me. I trusted you, and you betrayed that trust.”

“No, Rick, I—”

He held out his hand. “No, let me finish.” He paused to control the hurt and pain the next two words caused him. “It’s over.” Her eyes grew big. “It’s over between us.”

“No.”

He gave several curt nods. “Oh yes…yes it is. I not only feel that I can’t trust you, but…” He inhaled. “You’re
sixteen
. You’re just a kid. A…a…a baby. I’m twenty-seven years old, Nora. I can’t be with a…” He stopped, unable to go on. Rick placed both hands on the railing and leaned into them. His eyes closed tightly against the anguish of breaking up.

“No, I am not letting you go. I am not letting the only male that has claimed my heart to leave me because he refuses to realize that
I am a grown feline!”
Leonora reached out and grabbed a hold of his left arm. “I
am
an adult feline. By law!”

“Not by my laws!”

“I am not
human!”
she yelled, tugging on his arm.

Rick closed his eyes again and averted his face.

“Do not do this to us! Do not turn me away because of your stubbornness to see the truth!”

“Truth? Truth?” Rick questioned his hearing. “The truth is that by my laws you are underage, and I can be arrested. Do you know what that means? I would be sent to prison on charges of rape and labeled as a child molester!”

“No. That is not true.”

“It is true, Leonora! That’s how it works here! That’s the law I uphold. Or wasn’t that part of your research?”

“But I am not a human child. Please separate me from your human laws! Do not associate me with them. Rick, look at me. I am not human. I am an alien from another planet. Another world, not this one,” she implored him.

“I can’t,” he managed to say through the tightness in his chest. “I…I…just can’t.” He entered the house and headed straight to his bedroom.

“Rick, no! Rick!” Leonora followed, entering behind him. She reached the bedroom door just as Rick closed and locked it from the other side. “Rick, do not do this!” She banged on the door. “Rick, please, do not do this. You are making a mistake. I promise I will never keep anything from you again. I swear it.”

She began to cry. “I swear I will never betray you again. Rick, please. I am not a baby! I am…I am a woman! A grown woman!” she sobbed using the human terminology. “Please, Rick.
Please!”
He did not respond. “Do not leave me!” She fell to her knees. “Please, do not leave me because of this. I love you! I love you!”

After the passing of a few more minutes with no response from Rick, Lance stepped forward and helped the sobbing kitten to her feet. He held her while she poured out her dying soul.

Rick had not missed a word Leonora said. He remained where he sat behind the locked door with his arms wrapped around his raised knees. He thought back on his moments with her. Not one experience stood out from the others. Just being near her was a blessing to him.

He remembered when Leonora placed her mark on his back. She had called it a soulscar. Her explanation of what it was and where it came from had made him laugh. He was not laughing now, for he felt as if his soul mourned the loss of its counterpart.

It was a more intense emotion than the one he had survived when he lost Mary. Rick doubted its intensity has anything to do with it being recent. He had adored Mary, but Leonora had touched a part of him Mary had never found. Alas, he would now have to live without her. The tears he had managed to hold at bay for two days flowed freely.

It was after two in the morning when Carol Ann slipped into Rick’s bedroom through the adjoining doors. She was immediately touched to see him still sitting by the door, staring into space. Tears welled up in her eyes at seeing his stained cheeks and swollen eyes.

“Rick,” she spoke in a hushed tone. “What are you going to do?”

“What can I do?” he replied in a hollow whisper. “The woman I love is sixteen years old.”

“She’s an adult by Oceanan laws. She isn’t human. You have to remember that.” She did not want this to happen to her brother a second time. The unfamiliar look on Rick’s face made her believe it would be worse this time around.

“How can I forget how old she is? How can I forget what our laws dictate is an adult? And how can I separate the two?” He placed his face into the palms of his hands. “Oh God! How am I going to live without her?” came his muffled cry.

“Rick, you know the truth. You know she’s in love with you. And you know she
is an adult
among her race. You have to decide whether you are willing to put aside our laws and accept Leonora for what she is.”

He met her gaze.

“An alien humanoid from another planet. An alien who’s not subject to our laws or standards. I thought you understood and realized that.”

Rick lowered his sights to the floor.

“Don’t try to make her into a human, Rick. It won’t work. If you truly love her, then accept her for what she is and leave it at that. If you can’t do that, then stay away from her. Her people will arrive soon enough to retrieve her and Tigif.” With that said, Carol Ann whispered good night and left her brother to his thoughts.

Wednesday, the 16th of April

Carol Ann’s words had echoed in Rick’s head for a month. He had done everything in his power to stay away from Leonora. Yet, he searched for her whenever he did not see her. He kept a diligent watch over her, making sure no harm befell her or that Tigif got too close. And today was no different.

He stood in the shadows by the glass doors, watching her walk along the shoreline. Leonora was alone and headed toward the rocks. Once she passed the house, Rick stepped onto the deck to keep a better eye on her. His sights never left her, and his soul never once stopped mourning.

“So this is what you’ve decided,” Carol Ann spoke from the doors.

Rick was unaware that both his sister and best friend had been keeping a close eye on him. Ignoring her comment, he watched Leonora jump onto the rocks and sit by the edge closest to the ocean. She raised her knees and rested her head on them.

Carol Ann made a dramatic display of exhaling. “It must be hard to love someone so deeply and not be able to be with them—especially when there’s no logical reason for the two of you to be apart.”

“Back off, Carol Ann,” he warned her bitterly. “You know bloody well why I’ve chosen to stay away from her.”

“Yes, I know. And so does Tigif.” She walked up to him and leaned her hips against the railing. Looking at her bare feet, she asked, “Have you noticed how happy he’s been lately? It makes me wonder why he told you how old she was. I’m curious—did he bother to mention how old
he
is?"

Though he said nothing but continued to stare at Leonora, Rick’s ears were glued to his sister’s every word.

“He’s thirty years old, brother.”

A swirling heat erupted in his chest. Rick’s eyes narrowed.

“Funny how he’s older than you and has no problem with Nora’s age. Humph. I wonder why is that; don’t you?”

Rick carefully regarded her. “How do you know this?”

Carol Ann appeared to be extremely interested with her feet. She wiggled her toes. “Lance tricked him into admitting a couple of things.”

His heart started to beat with life. “Like?”

She shrugged, nonchalantly. “Ooh, just some things about their laws and his age, that sort of stuff. Only out of curiosity, mind you, not because of you or your pigheadedness. Nothing like that.”

Rick glanced at the double doors as Lance appeared. He stood half in shadow and half in light. He seemed to have heard everything Carol Ann said. He confirmed her words with a nod.

Nevertheless, Rick was true to his nature and was not easily convinced. “And you believed him?”

“This is me you’re talking about,” replied Lance. “You do remember who I am?”

Rick’s vision zoomed in on his beloved on the rocks. “They’ll be leaving soon,” he croaked.

“Exactly,” said Lance.

Rick’s gaze switched to the incoming waves. He thought of Tigif, and his jaw clenched.
That bastard! He did it to me again!
His eyes riveted back to the rocks. The greatest need to have ever enveloped a being’s soul besieged him.
Nora
. He bolted from his spot and headed for the large rocks.

Rick easily climbed to the top of the familiar boulders. He stealthily made his way to Leonora, who had her head lowered. Soul mate she had called him—one soul divided in half, each side longing to rejoin with its other half. Only when both sides fused together would either being be complete.

Rick went down on one knee beside her. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed a hold of Leonora’s chin through the crook of her left arm. In one fluid motion, he brought her head up and captured her mouth in a smoldering kiss.

He lured her tongue into his mouth. Leonora whimpered and gave herself completely to him. Without releasing her lips, Rick gently lowered her unto her back. He grabbed each side of her blouse and tore it open, exposing her to the cool ocean breeze.

The past month had revealed to him how much pain and suffrage was in store for him after Leonora left. Rick’s heart beat erratically at the thought. He would not survive. He needed to be a part of her life, a part of her—body and soul. He now understood. Leonora was not just
his
lover, but his soul’s mate as well.

Intensifying their kiss, Leonora encouraged him with her movements to raise her skirt. Rick complied while she urgently opened his pants. She grasped his swollen member and eagerly placed him
inside her. Groaning, Rick pushed forward and claimed her on top of the rocks. Their mating was as wild as the large waves that crashed around them, sprinkling them with its soft, fine mist.

Leonora and Rick were snuggled up in Rick’s queen-size bed. Both were temporarily satiated after a second, untamed mating session. Rick stared at the ceiling, while he fingered Leonora’s left arm. He thought about Tigif. The cat had gotten the best of him repeatedly, managing to steal precious time from Leonora and himself. He vowed to repay the alien the first chance he got.

Leonora was curled up along the left side of him. He thought she had fallen asleep until she started talking.

“The cuts on your back have healed quite nicely. You still have scars.”

“I never thought I would be used as a scratching post if I made love to you. I guess that’s what happens when a man makes love to a wildcat.” He tweaked her nose.