by Ines Johnson
"I'm told you rescued a group of human women who were abducted by your marred fathers."
Hsing swallowed. Deception didn't come natural to Eloheem. Shanti wasn't rescued. She had been abducted. True, she decided to stay with her mates. But the initial action was still a crime.
"Yes, my lord," Yehfe answered the query truthfully. Because for him it was true. Beulah, Esther and Eva had been rescued.
"I suppose you were bringing them back to their homeward?" asked Tehuti with a raise of his brow less eyes.
"They do not all want to return, my lord." That truth came from Hsing.
Yehfe knew there was no way the male would relinquish Shanti. It was a sentiment Yehfe understood. He would only let Beulah go over his dead body.
"I see," said Tehuti. "Does this one want to return to Earth?"
Esther raised her head. Her gaze was one of rapture. "I have only ever wanted to serve you, Lord Jesus. I was going to become a nun and give my all to you."
Tehuti looked the young girl up and down. "You'd do better to serve a womb in need."
"Like the Virgin Mary?" asked Esther.
Tehuti gave the girl a scathing look. Yehfe had learned some of the human theology from Shanti. That a human woman became with child through no touch of a man. It wasn't entirely far-fetched of an idea. Tehuti was a master geneticist and created many new lifeforms inside his laboratories.
He came to Esther now. With a lift of his finger, he titled the girl's chin up. "When you are ripe, you will procreate with an Eloheem brotherhood."
"With demons? Hell, no-"
Tehuti lifted that brow less eye again. Esther's lips clamped shut. But the defiance never left her eyes.
Tehuti's gaze settled again on Yehfe and Hsing. "Now that the disease has been rooted out of your tribe, there is much work to do in this galaxy. Return to your home world."
"You…?" Hsing began and then choked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "You're letting us go."
With a flick of his wrist, Tehuti dismissed the three of them. Yehfe had to get a hand under Esther's armpit to lift her up and get her moving. She didn't protest, but neither did she make the way out easy. It didn't matter.
They were free. They no longer had to run. But most importantly, they could settle with their loved ones and get back to their life's purpose of healing life, protecting life, and creating new life.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Beulah didn’t have to open her eyes to know that she was not alone. She felt him before she saw him. She kept her eyes closed because she felt his brother too. Yehfe was returning and he was happy, thrilled. Beulah couldn’t understand why? The words he said over the bond were in his native language but the feelings were universal.
“He says we can return home,” Pakua translated for her.
Beulah’s eyes slammed open. “I don’t want to go home.”
“No,” Pakua reached out a steady hand to her. “Not to the Earth and that reptile of a man you called a husband. You will never return to him as long as I have breath.”
Beulah sat up. She brought her knees to her chest as she looked at the utter hatred marring Pakua’s features.
Pakua’s eyes widened. “I would never…” His voice, which begun as a fierce whisper, trailed off until it was nothing. He had the same resigned look on his face that she’d seen on Nse’s earlier.
Beulah sat up. Her knees fell open until she was sitting in a lotus. She leaned forward until she was mere inches from Pakua. “I know you would never hurt me. I understand that this is hard for you. I know you didn’t choose it. I promise I won’t take advantage of the bond between us. This was Yehfe and my decision. I know you don’t want me, so I’ll stay out of your way.”
He’d watched her lips as she said the words. His features sinking causing him to look hollow, gaunt. “You do not want me?”
Beulah felt the pain down the bond. Pakua backed away, but he couldn’t hide the emotions of loss. She reached for him and he stilled. He would not meet her eyes.
“I expect nothing in return. But you must allow me to protect you.” He frowned. “I suppose that is asking for something.”
“Can we make a deal?”
He cocked his head as he regarded her. There was the tiniest spark of hope in the wide pool of his eyes.
“I’ll let you protect me,” she said. “But you have to let me in.”
“In where?”
She placed her hand on his hearts. Pakua took a deep shuddering breath. He closed his eyes and his head bowed, but not in gratitude. He looked afraid. His fear cracked her heart wide open.
Beulah rose on her knees and placed his bowed head on her chest. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered.
His head rose a little until his lips met the flesh of her neck. “That is not what I fear.”
“Tell me?”
He lifted his gaze to hers. And in his eyes, she saw his greatest fear. He feared that he would hurt her, that he would snap like the marred ones had and wreak destruction on the ones he held dear. That is why he tried to push everyone away.
Pakua closed his eyes briefly. He took a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes, and himself, to her.
Beulah saw the energetic ties that bound them together. She saw herself wrapped in the essence of Pakua. She saw the long-held ties binding him to his brother. She saw the strengthening ties binding him to her daughter.
Beulah’s eyes watered. Yehfe’s love for her and Eva was clear and present. Pakua’s was buried deep in his soul. He might never say the words aloud, but he cared deeply for all of them.
Beulah placed her hand at his temple. Then she leaned in for a kiss. She felt him shudder under her light touch, and then she heard him chuckle.
“Eva said that mommies kiss you when you get hurt,” he said.
Beulah gave him a tug until he was coming down on the bed with her.
“Are you going to tuck me in?” he asked with mischief in his eyes. “Because I am not tired.”
“I’m not tired either,” Beulah said as she pulled off her top.
Pakua sighed at the sight of her bared breasts. “I have a feeling I would prefer your breasts to ice cream.” With a flick of his wrist, he stretched her out until she was flat on her back. The air gushed out of her chest with a laugh.
Pakua’s lips latched onto her right breast and her sigh became a moan. He removed her skirt and parted her thighs without breaking the seal his mouth had on her breast. He slid into the core of her a moment later.
Their union was easy, effortless. She felt herself rising to a climax on his second thrust. Her arms wrapped around his shoulder blades to hold on. But Pakua flipped their bodies so that she was on top, riding him.
She fumbled for a moment, having never been in this position of power. He stretched out below her with a smirk on his face. His hips rose up and into hers while he waited.
Beulah placed her hands on his chest and lifted her hips. She sank down until he filled her to capacity. The hip roll she did at the end wasn’t planned, it was instinct. When she opened her eyes from the ecstasy of it, she saw that he was lost in the pleasure of her.
A thrill went through her that she could effect such a response for him. She did it again. His fingers dug into her hips, his lips parted. Power surged through her and her hips began to rock in a rhythm of their own.
She was becoming lost to the energy pulsating between them when she felt lips at her back. She startled until she saw Yehfe’s head bowed at her shoulder cap. He lifted his head to hers and captured her lips.
She didn’t have time to feel scandalized that he was in the room with her as she made love to his brother. The erection at her back, along with the one pulsing inside of her, clued her in that both Yehfe and Pakua saw nothing wrong with the two of them taking their mate at the same time. The mere thought of it overwhelmed Beulah and her climax caught her off guard.
Before she could come down from the orgasm, Yehfe pulled her hips back and onto his
straining erection. It didn’t take much before she was coasting off to a second, deeper orgasm as Yehfe stroked her core from the back and Pakua fondled her breasts from below.
Beulah lost consciousness for a second. When she came to, she was sandwiched in-between the brothers. Her right hand was locked in Pakua’s grasp. Yehfe kissed her left fingertips. A perfect peace settled over her.
“Yes,” Yehfe whispered against her lips.
She hadn’t asked the question out loud but she knew she didn’t have to. It would always be like this. The three of them united and happy and filled to the brim with peace, love, and understanding.
Pakua wrapped his arm around her middle and settled his head against her back. Yehfe continued to plant tiny kisses along her temple. A loud boom broke through their cocoon and the ship shuddered.
Pakua blocked her body with his. Yehfe looked out, his eyes going hazy as though he were listening to someone speak to him.
“What was that?” Beulah asked.
The two brothers looked at each other. Hesitancy was identical on their faces.
“Is it Eva?” Beulah cried.
“No,” Yehfe soothed. “She is next door with Nse and Niao. She is fine. Everything is fine.”
“Then tell me what just happened?”
“We're taking off,” said Pakua. "We're going home; to our homeward. I can't wait for you to see it."
Beulah couldn't wait either. But something held her back. “What about Essie?”
“While we were on the surface," said Yehfe, "your sister had a… how would you say it? A come to Jesus moment. She's been given a mission by god and she's accepted it.”
That made no sense to Beulah. But she didn't question it. All she knew was that they were all going to stay together and be a family.
“Do not worry, my one.” Yehfe bent down and placed a kiss on her belly. “Soon you will have more pressing matters to occupy your thoughts.”
“Two matters,” grinned Pakua.
Beulah noted that both males’ gazes were fixed on her belly. She remembered they believed she would become pregnant when they all lay together.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you,” she began. “I can’t get pregnant. I’m barren. I’ll never have children of my own.”
“Who told you such nonsense?” said Pakua.
“Eva isn’t my blood child.”
“What does blood have to do with anything?” asked Yehfe.
“You see that we look different? We have different skin colors.”
“What does skin color have to do with parentage?” asked Pakua.
“Eva is the child of your heart,” said Yehfe. “Your heart is open to our seed. The seed has been planted. The children have already taken root. Let me show you.”
And then he did. Yehfe showed Beulah the embryo that had just sparked to life inside of her. She saw it pulse and grow with twin bursts of light and life. Not only did she have a new family who cared for her, she would soon have children of her own.
Beluah’s heart was fit to burst. Luckily, she had two pairs of strong hands to hold her together. And hold her they did. Pakua and Yehfe wrapped her in the cocoon of their love. Their intentions were clear; they were never letting her go.
About Ines Johnson
Lover of fairytales, folklore, and mythology, Ines Johnson spends her days reimagining the stories of old in a modern world. She writes books where damsels cause the distress, princesses wield swords, and moms save the world.
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