Theron Destiny (Brides of Theron) (20 page)

After waiting for what seemed a long time to Avery, they finally heard a voice coming through the screen.

“I am here, sir. I have the two earth females you requested with me.” Manko’s voice came through just as clear as if he was standing right next to her instead of being tens of thousands of miles away.

“Please activate your viewer Manko.” Brylon instructed the warrior as they waited for the image to appear on the screen before them. Slowly the image of a large and muscular warrior came into view. He wasn’t wearing the Theron uniform, the usual apparel worn on the ship. Instead he was dressed in what looked like earth clothes.  She also noticed that his hair was much longer than the other warriors on board the ship.

Once Manko was entirely visible on the screen Brylon asked, “How is everything there? Did you have any problems finding the place?”

Manko glanced over his shoulder then turned his attention back to the viewer, “Let’s just say that finding the place was a hell of a lot easier than talking to the two older earth women. Man, they are…”

“Avery…Avery???” Manko was roughly pushed to the side as the sound of Avery’s aunts voices could be heard echoing through the room.

Avery moved closer to the screen and let out a whispered cry, “Aunt Lilly.” She was speechless for a moment until the full situation finally sunk in, “Aunt Lilly it’s me. I’m okay, Aunt Lilly.”

On the screen her Aunt Lilly let out a sob that would tear at anyone’s heart strings, “Oh God, Avery, it is you. It really is you! But where are you?” Her aunt had tears running down her face as she spoke in a steady voice.

Avery had tears of her own now and managed to speak back, “Where is Aunt Beth?”

“I’m here. I’m here Avery! Oh my God, he wasn’t lying to us Lilly. There she is.” Both women now stood in front of the viewer and appeared on the screen before Avery. Behind them Avery could see the warrior named Manko move into view.

Her Aunt Lilly began to speak again, “Avery where have you been? We thought you were dead. The police have been looking for you everywhere. You just disappeared without a trace. We had just about given you up for dead.”

Avery took a deep breath, “It’s a long story Auntie. But I will do my best to explain. You might as well sit down.”

Once her aunts had taken up a place on the sofa Avery began from the very beginning what had occurred to her over the past couple of weeks. From being chased the woods on her way home from work.  She told them about the auction and events from then to the present. She was surprised that her aunts never once interrupted while she spoke. She knew that they would have a ton of questions for her when she finished telling her story. So, she hoped to tell them as much as she could remember. While she had been speaking she had seen the muscular warrior Manko move to stand behind her aunts as if to protect them. When she did stop talking she waited for one of them to say something. There was just silence on both sides of the viewer. Neither side moved. Aunt Beth finally made the first move to break the silence, “But why Avery? Why are you going with them?”

Avery felt like she was a child again and was being chastised. She looked down at her hands in her lap, the same hands that she had been nervously rubbing together while recanting her story.

“I told you Aunt Beth. Their race is dying.  They don’t have enough females to produce new offspring to sustain their existence. They came to our planet to find mates. I just happen to be one of them.”

Aunt Lilly jumped up from the sofa, “So you are telling us that you are going to be a baby incubator for these aliens?” Anger was building now in the older woman’s face, a face that Avery loved so dearly. A face that was usually filled with smiles and laughter was now replaced by one full of rage.

“Aunt Lilly, I am not a baby Incubator or a baby factory for that matter. I am not even pregnant at the moment. I have come to love Zeb while here. I actually owe him my life if you think about it.”

Now it was Aunt Beth’s turn to speak her mind, “Avery you can’t do this. You have a life here and a family that loves you. What about your job? What about your things, and Books?”

“I kind of forgot to tell you about that part. Zeb and Brylon had arranged a way to go a retrieve my things and Books too. He is here on the ship with me and couldn’t be happier. He actually has a new friend to play with. As for my life on Earth, I am starting to seriously think I did not have one.  You have tried numerous times to set me up on dates and it never worked out.  Maybe, that was because my soul mate was not on Earth. Here I can actually have a higher purpose in my life.  I could truly be happy here with Zeb.” She was trying to lighten the conversation since she didn’t want to leave her aunts angry and wanted to impress upon them that she was going to be alright.

Zeb got up from where he had been sitting and moved to stand next to Avery. Before now her aunts had not seen him.   They only heard Avery refer to him.

“Aunts of my mate, I promise on my life that I will protect and love you niece until my dying day. I would give my life for her. I wish for her to be happy with the knowledge that you two know that she is alive and well. She wanted to contact you before our ship leaves. It might be awhile before we can return.” He had pulled her close to him and had his arm wrapped around her waist and glanced down at her. She was so much shorter than he was and her Aunt Beth seemed to notice that right away.

“Geez Avery, did you happen pick that biggest guy in the whole damn universe? That guy is freaking huge!” Her aunt Lilly’s eyes had become so large she thought they were going to pop out of her head at any moment.

Aunt Beth looked at Aunt Lilly with a slightly downcast look and said, “You know we could not have set her up with someone as good looking as that.  Seems Avery knows what she wants and chose well.” Then the aunts started to giggle.

Aunt Lilly looked at Aunt Beth speaking under her breath but loud enough for those in the room to hear, “He is pretty damn good looking isn’t he.”  She nudged her elbow into Aunt Beth’s side.  “Maybe we should have had Avery set us up on dates.  We certainly wouldn’t be the spinsters we are with men like these around.”

Avery and Zeb both laughed at her aunts.

“He picked me remember?” Avery smiled back at her aunts remembering how much they meant to her.

Aunt Beth softly asked Avery in a serious tone that Avery had come to know well when she went to live with them after her parents’ died, “Avery, what do you want sweetheart?  Do you want to go with them?”

Before she answered her aunt, she looked up into the face of the man that she had quickly come to love since leaving her home. Somehow she knew by looking up into his eyes that she would be loved and protected all the days of her life. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Zeb cared for her deeply and would stand by his promise to keep her safe.

“Yes, Aunt Beth. I want to go but…but…” Her voice broke with emotion as she struggled to get the words out of her mouth.

“But what, honey?” Aunt Beth urged.

Avery looked at the two women who had raised and loved her, through tears that had started to fall. “But, I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. I didn’t want to leave with you thinking that I was dead or that something unimaginable happened to me.”

“Oh Honey, it’s okay now. We know that you are safe and alive. We don’t want to see you go but we raised you to be your own person and to do what you wanted to with your life. Don’t you go worrying about us. We are just overjoyed that you are happy and that you found someone who will love you and take care of you.” Her aunts were now holding hands and had their own tears slowly falling down their cheeks but the smile that they both wore warmed her heart.

“Avery, I am sorry but we must break the connection before it can be traced.  Your Aunts both know that they must speak of this to no one.” Brylon had moved in closer to Avery and Zeb and looked at them.

Avery’s gaze slid to Brylon’s face then back to her aunts, “Ok.”

Aunt Lilly was the first to acknowledge Brylon’s statement, “We heard him Avery. Like anyone would believe us anyway.  We love you very much and will miss you. Maybe someday your man will be able to bring you back for a visit.”

Zeb spoke before Avery could say another word, “I promise you, Aunts of my mate, that I will bring her back to visit you if possible. Do not worry for her safety as she will be well protected. I promise you that with my life.”

“We are going to hold you to that promise. Take care of her. Avery, we love you Sweetheart. You don’t know how relieved we are to see you so happy and where you want to be.  That is all a parent could want for their child.  Even if we never see you again, we know you will be alright.  But please, do try to visit.” Aunt Lilly reached towards the screen as if waiting for her touch.

Avery did the same but she actually touched the screen and whispered through her tears, “I love you too.” The screen went blank and with that her only family was gone. She turned her face into Zeb’s chest and let out a sob. She felt his arms come around her and pull her tightly to his chest. “Everything will be fine.” He kissed the top of her head, “I will escort you back to our quarters. I need to return to the control room to make sure that the final preparations to leave are complete.”

Avery had pulled back a few inches so that she could see his face. The tears had stopped flowing but her eyes were now red and her cheeks were still damp. She gave Zeb a shy smile before she said, “I am sorry for giving you such a hard time earlier. This…This meant so much to me and I believe for my aunts too. I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I have spoken to my aunts and that they know my true fate and even approve. Thank you so much.”

Zeb smiled back down at her, “There is no need to thank me, little one. Brylon was the one who worked his magic.” He nodded his head in the direction of the ship’s engineer who was still standing close to the viewing screen.

Avery thought for a moment before releasing Zeb and walking over to the warrior who had did this for her. As she approached him, he stood a couple of steps backwards as if he were afraid of her. He glanced at Zeb for help since he did not know what she was up too. She came to stop right in front to the big guy and the tiny voice that came out of her mouth let him know that  she was struggling to keep herself composed.

“Thank you. I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you.” She reached up and grabbed his neck pulling his head down to her level. She placed a soft kiss on his right cheek and repeated her words once again, “Thank you.” She let go of him and moved back over to Zeb.

Brylon stood absolutely still. He wasn’t sure how to react to her gesture. His first thought was that his commanding officer was going to beat the crap out of him. A warrior never touched another warrior’s mate without his permission. He looked at his commander and friend not knowing what to say.

Zeb could see that Brylon was just as stunned as he was with Avery’s actions but he also realized that it was a form of gratitude that she was expressing towards Brylon and not desire.

“It’s okay Brylon. She was just thanking you.” Zeb let out a chuckle and watched as Brylon let out a sigh of relief.

“It was no trouble at all Lady Avery. I am glad I was able to help. Now if you will excuse me, I must go check on the engines. Commander, I will see you up in the control room.” With that being said, Brylon turned and left the conference room.

Avery looked back at Zeb, “I think I might have made him a bit uncomfortable.”

“I think you just took him by surprise. We do not express our feeling that way. I must admit I was a bit jealous seeing you touch another warrior. It took me a moment to realize that it must be customary on your world to express thanks in that way.” Zeb had taken hold of her hand and was now leading her out of the room and back to their quarters.

“It was just a kiss on the cheek. We do it all the time especially when we are filled with such gratitude and thanks. It shows that we are truly moved by what that person did for us. A hug or a kiss can make someone feel appreciated.” They walked the rest of the way to their quarters in silence. On the way back Avery could tell that the ship was in a flurry of activity with warriors moving everywhere, even more so than usual.

Once they reached the door of their quarters, Zeb pulled Avery into his strong muscled arms and pushed her against the wall. He captured her mouth in a hungry way that swallowed the shriek that had started to escape her lips. He thrust his tongue into her mouth while his hand had found the roundness of her breast. He moaned into her mouth as she returned the kiss. Her tongue danced with his in such a frenzy it was leaving her breathless. He moved his other hand up to cradle the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. His hand on her breast continued its assault, gently squeezing it while his thumb rubbed across her nipple causing it to pucker.

He pulled away from her mouth, “Gods, I want you so much right now. I will never get enough of tasting you.” His lips touched hers again but this time they brushed hers so lightly. She opened her eyes to see that his were so filled with desire. She smiled up at him, “You promise?”

“That is a promise. There will never be a day that goes by that I won’t want to make love to you and I am going to do that as soon as I finish checking the ship for departure. I am not sure how long I will be, but I will wake you when I return. That’s a promise too!” He gave her another quick kiss and pressed the button that would open the door. He waited while she moved in then watched as the door closed.

Walking away from the door, he had a huge smile plastered on his face, “Oh yes, my little earth mate. I will definitely be waking you when I return.” He made his way to the transportation tubes then up to the control room. He needed to make sure everything was in working order before he attempted to move the ship back through the worm holes towards their planet. Their return journey was not a route that they used before so he had to make sure that the coordinates were exact. He didn’t want the ship to end up in the hands of the Drylons.