by S. E. Smith
Tilly rose from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to her oldest daughter. Hannah was several inches taller than her mother but she always felt smaller around her. Tilly wrapped her arms around Hannah and held her. Hannah stood stiffly for a moment before she slowly wrapped her arms around her mom, hugging her back.
“I’m scared, momma.” Hannah whispered softly in Tilly’s ear. “I don’t understand all these strange feelings going on inside me.”
Tilly smiled gently and leaned back to brush Hannah’s hair back from her face. “I know. What do your feelings tell you when you look at him, sweetheart?” Tilly asked gently.
Hannah looked up and stared into Borj’s dark, silver eyes. She could easily drown in them. Hannah focused in on the feelings she felt when she looked into his eyes. She felt…safe, loved, a sense of peace. Borj smiled softly at Hannah. It was as if he knew she was trying to see if she could trust him; not only with her body but with her heart and soul.
“I will always be there for you, my ku lei, always.” Borj’s voice whispered softly in her mind.
Hannah’s eyes darkened with confusion and a small amount of fear. She looked back down at her mom who was waiting patiently for Hannah to work things out in her own mind. Hannah shook her head in denial.
“I don’t know.” Hannah responded. “I don’t understand any of this.”
Tilly smiled up encouragingly at Hannah. “Believe in your feelings, Hannah. They have always guided you to safety. They will continue to do so. Now, let’s go fix the guys something to eat. Your father has been working on his new book so much he hasn’t wanted to eat.”
Hannah looked at Cosmos, her dad, and Borj before looking back down at her mom. “I would kill for some pizza. I haven’t had one in almost two years. Do you think we could order out?” Hannah begged softly.
“RITA!” Tilly called out.
“Yes, love.” RITA replied cheerfully.
“Can you order two pepperoni pizzas with extra cheese, a fresco with spinach and black olives, three dozen wings – mild, and a double order of garlic knots.” Tilly called out.
“It will be here in forty-five minutes to an hour. I’ll let you know when they pull up.” RITA replied.
“Thank you, dear.” Tilly called out pulling Hannah back over to the couch and gently pushing her back into Borj’s arms. “Now, tell me again about how Tink met your brother.”
Borj settled back against the couch with a sigh. He was beginning to appreciate Cosmos’ and Hannah’s reluctance at letting Tilly and Angus know about him. He wanted to take Hannah upstairs and wipe the fear and uncertainty out of her eyes. He also needed to return to Baade. The longer he stayed here, the more dangerous it was.
Borj looked at the caution in Angus’ eyes and gave a brief nod. He understood Hannah’s mother needed reassurance her youngest daughter was safe and happy. He also understood Hannah was not ready to return with him. He wanted to howl out in frustration. He imagined his union would have been much different. More like his brother and Tink’s where Tink seemed unable to keep her hands off of J’kar. Borj glanced at Hannah out of the corner of his eye. She was trying to sit stiffly so she didn’t lean against him but the soft cushions on the couch made that almost impossible. As he once again told how J’kar and Tink met and about how close they came to losing her, he let his hand gently rub against Hannah’s back until he felt her begin to relax and settle closer to him on her own. Yes, her mother was right. It would take time and patience. He would do whatever was necessary for his mate. Even, Borj thought in despair, if it killed him.
Much later, after the pizza and more stories, this time about the adventures of Hannah, Tansy, and Tink growing up, Borj reluctantly settled back down on the couch to sleep. Angus and Tilly left about an hour ago to sleep in their ‘motor home’. Borj was fascinated at the idea of someone living in a home that moved around all the time. This was an interesting world. He liked the different foods and the drink called beer that Cosmos gave him. Borj pulled one of magazines Cosmos gave him with Hannah’s photographs in it out to look through. He rolled over and turned on the small lamp next to the couch. This one was a special edition highlighting Hannah’s work from when she was only a child through to last year.
Borj smiled as he looked at the innocent smiling face of Hannah when she was ten. There was a series of photographs ranging from different animals, to people, to landscapes. Each was taken with care and the attention to detail was incredible for one so young. He flipped to the next page. There was several more of Hannah at different ages. It was when he turned to the next page that he saw a change. She was no longer smiling and her eyes were dark and sad. He turned back to the page before and noted she looked to be about the same age from the one before to the next but her eyes seemed to have aged a hundred cycles.
Borj growled out in frustration at not being able to read the printed material. Throwing the blanket off of him, he stood up moving towards the stairs leading up to Hannah. He wanted answers and she made it clear she was the only one who could give them. He took the stairs two at a time on silent feet.
He moved towards the sleeping area. The door was partially closed but Borj could see just fine thanks to the lights from the open windows. He walked slowly towards the bed staring down at Hannah’s relaxed face. Sitting carefully on the edge of the bed, he let his gaze move over her face memorizing every detail. Dark shadows from exhaustion still darkened beneath her eyes even in sleep. Her lips were parted and he could hear the quiet breaths as she breathed in and out slowly. Her hair had come undone from the braid she wore earlier and lay fanned out across the pillows. Borj lifted a hand that wasn’t quite steady and gently lifted a strand that lay across her chest.
Hannah could feel she wasn’t alone but she was so tired she didn’t want to wake up. Her breath caught in her throat when she felt the warmth of the body as it settled on the mattress next to her. Normally, she would have panicked to have a male so close to her but instead she felt – protected. She knew immediately who was next to her. She could feel the heat pooling lower between her legs and the restlessness of wanting to be held in his strong arms. Hannah frowned as she felt her body reacting to Borj.
“Tell me what happened to you.” Borj asked silently.
“I can’t.” Hannah whispered back without ever saying a word.
Borj looked into Hannah’s dark green eyes that were now staring up at him in a silent plea for understanding. There were the shadows again…the pain and the guilt deep inside begging him to help her find a way to break free from it. As Borj looked deeply into Hannah’s eyes he realized she really couldn’t tell him. The anguish, pain, and horror of whatever happened to her were locked so deeply inside her for so long she didn’t know how to let it out.
Borj let his hand move to cup her cheek gently. “Then show me.” He whispered softly in her mind.
Hannah held her breath for a moment before she nodded silently. She instinctively moved her hand up to press it against her cheek so he wouldn’t let her go. Borj reached out with his other hand and entwined his fingers with the hand Hannah had laying across her stomach. He squeezed her fingers to let her know he would wait as long as it took for her to trust him. Hannah let out a shaky smile. Never taking her eyes from Borj, she let the memories come. All of them, everything from the shy, shared smiles of a young girl being asked to dance for the first time to the half dead girl who barely made it through the jungle and the nightmares that followed her for years.
Hannah never broke eye contact with Borj. Not even when she relived killing the two men. That was something she never told anyone about, not her parents, not the authorities, not the therapists. The one person who knew what she had done was killed during the rescue attempt and none of the rebels survived to tell.
Hannah’s eyes glittered with unshed tears as she stared at Borj waiting for him to condemn her. She should have forced the girl to go with her even if it meant she might be captured. She was a murderer. Even if those men w
ere bad and were doing bad things, she should have found another way to get away without killing them. But the worse was her feelings. She didn’t feel any regret or sorrow for killing the men. She would do it again if she was in the same situation. She felt the same for the girl. She tried to get her to come with her but she wouldn’t. Hannah knew deep down she would have been raped, killed or both if she had tried to force the girl to go with her. She felt sad for the girl’s death but she didn’t regret leaving her. Did that make her a terrible person?
“Never.” Borg said tenderly pulling Hannah up into his arms and rocking her back and forth. “It showed that you are a strong person. You could make the decisions only a leader can. Because of you, others lived. You are a true warrior and I am proud to call you my mate.”
Hannah didn’t say anything. She snuggled further into Borj’s warm body letting her arms slowly circle his waist and holding him tentatively, like she was afraid he would suddenly disappear. Borj’s arms tightened around Hannah and he laid his cheek against her hair. Now that she let him into her mind fully, he could see other times in her life when she came close to dying. He didn’t saying anything. He carefully let his mind remain blank as Hannah’s memories of other close calls; both from animals and different environments she was photographing to the human predators she encountered flow through him. He absorbed those memories, learning more about Hannah’s strength and fierceness.
Borj felt Hannah’s body relax against his as exhaustion from the emotional retelling and the stress of not enough sleep finally took hold of her. He continued to hold her tight against his body even after he knew she was in a deep sleep. Reluctantly, he gently laid her back against the pillows. Moving around the bed, he pulled his jeans off and climbed in next to her. Almost immediately, Hannah rolled over onto her side and burrowed into him. Borj let a small smile curve his lips. She was beginning to trust him whether she wanted to admit it or not.
“Am not.” Came the soft, teasing whisper in his mind.
Maybe she wasn’t as asleep as he thought. Another faint whisper caressed his mind before he knew she really was asleep this time. Borj wrapped his arm around Hannah and closed his eyes. His last thought before exhaustion claimed him was he was already deeply in love with his little warrior.
Chapter 8
Hannah moaned as another wave of heat flowed through her. The rough palm stroking her breast and pulling on her nipple felt so damn good. Hannah arched her back trying to get closer and froze. Something very long and hard was poking her in the butt…a butt that should have been covered by her boxers which were surprising absent. Surprising because she knew darn well she didn’t remove them.
“No, I did. They were in the way.” Borj whispered quietly in her mind. “I thought you were never going to wake up.”
Hannah bit her lip when she felt Borj’s warm lips along her shoulder. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not?” Borj asked curiously as he moved his lips towards Hannah’s neck. “I can’t think of anywhere I would rather be.”
Hannah moved her hand up to still Borj’s teasing one on her breast. Rolling over onto her back, she frowned up at Borj. “Listen, you are an alien who will be going back to your world, I am a human who is going to be remaining here. The two don’t mix.” Hannah tried to explain through a throat that suddenly felt like it was too dry.
Borj let his hand slide down to Hannah’s flat stomach. He propped himself up on his elbow so he was gazing down over her. He could feel the fear beginning to build in him and he didn’t like it at all. He wanted Hannah to come to him on her own, like Tink did with his brother. He didn’t want to have to bite her to make her want him. He wanted…Borj closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again…he wanted Hannah to want to be with him.
“We do mix, Hannah. I plan to take you back to my world with me. I have to return…today. You will come with me. There is no other choice any longer. We have bonded. If you remain here you will die, just as I will die if I return without you.” Borj said quietly.
Hannah looked up with a mixture of fear and frustration. She was used to being independent. She could make snap decisions without blinking an eye. She was so totally screwed.
Borj lifted his hand up to brush Hannah’s cheek gently. “I do not understand this ‘screwed’. I have no wish to hurt you if this is what it means.”
Hannah bit her lip. She had two choices: take a chance or tuck tail and run. Since she had never tuck tail and run in her life she decided she might as well take a chance. Reaching up, she pulled Borj down over her. Borj jerked and groaned as he felt Hannah’s response. Crushing his lips to hers, he poured all of his love for her into it. This is what it was like, he thought in a daze. This is what it was like to have a connection to someone so deep there was no defining where they where they separated.
“You are thinking way too much.” Hannah groaned as she pulled away slightly. “I thought it was the girl who was supposed to do that.”
Borj chuckled. “Something tells me you are not a typically female, even for your world.” Borj said as he ran little kisses along Hannah’s jaw.
Hannah looked up at Borj for a moment. She stared intently into his flaming silver eyes. “Why do I feel this way about you?” Hannah asked softly.
Borj pressed his swollen cock against Hannah. “I feel the same way about you.”
Hannah shook her head slightly from side to side. “No, it is more than that. I feel…safe. I’ve never felt like that before. Before, if a guy tried to get too close to me I would get all weird.” Hannah said puzzled.
“Oh, you still got all weird, dear. You just got over it faster because your body recognized your other half.” Tilly Bell said as she stepped into the room.
“Yes, it is amazing what your body knows, isn’t it sweetheart?” Angus said with a slight growl in his voice. “Might I say it was a most enjoyable experience watching your delightful rear-end coming up the stairs.”
Hannah gasped, trying to make herself as small as possible under Borj’s huge frame. Borj looked over his shoulder at the petite figure of Tilly Bell as she walked over to the side table and set down a small covered tray. Angus moved up behind her handing her the glasses of juice he was carrying. As soon as their hands were free, Angus pulled Tilly into his arms leaning her over and kissing her hard on the lips.
“You are absolutely beautiful first thing in the morning.” Angus whispered softly.
Tilly blushed and grinned up at her husband of almost thirty years. “Oh, you…”
Hannah groaned. “Can you two go get your own room?!”
Angus cleared his throat before gently setting his wife back onto her feet. “Yes, well. We got tired of waiting for you two to come down. From the looks of it, I can understand why now. You should really close the door if you don’t want company. Locking it helps too. Anyway, young man, I fully expect for you to do right by my daughter or I will have to take you to task.” Angus said sternly pushing his glasses back up on his nose where they had slipped down.
Borj looked Angus up and down through half-closed eyes trying not to show his amusement at the man’s stern threat. He easily outweighed Hannah’s father but a hundred pounds or more and was almost a foot taller. Not to mention, Borj was built like all Prime males, very muscular, where Angus was obviously not.
“Don’t under-estimate them. It’s not my dad you have to worry about, it’s my mom. She could kick your ass while drinking a cup of coffee.” Hannah warned.
Borj looked at the sweet looking little woman next to Angus and shook his head. “I could crush her with one fist.”
“Yeah, like you did me?” Hannah asked with a raised eyebrow.
Borj flushed as he remembered how quickly Hannah knocked him on his ass. He was just about to say something when Tilly sat down on the bed next to them. Borj tightened his arms around Hannah who tried to the hide the impossible fact she was naked with Borj still on top of her.
“Your forehead is looking much bett
er. Hannah, you did a good job. I saw the dents in Tink’s frying pan. How many times did you hit him?” Tilly said totally ignoring both her oldest daughter’s discomfort and Borj’s as she brushed his hair back from his forehead to peer at the discolored bruise.
“Twice.” Hannah groaned. “Mom. Dad. This is a little embarrassing. Do you think you can leave so we can get up?”
Tilly peeked down at Hannah with a wide grin. “Oh, I’d say he was already up.” She giggled.
“Yes, it would seem Borj was having a bit of a hard time with our little girl.” Hannah’s face flamed as her father joined in on the joke. “Come, dear. I think we have our answer. We have some packing to do if we are going to be going with them.” Angus said reaching for his giggling wife.
Hannah let out a deep breath and let her head fall back on the bed with a loud groan. “Why? What did I ever do to deserve such weird parents? Maybe I was adopted or found as a baby. I keep hoping.” Hannah muttered humorously.
Borj rolled over. There was nothing like having his mate’s parents in the room to douse the fire of passion. Looking over at Hannah who was staring up at the ceiling with a small grin on her face, he thought it might not be doused all the way when his cock jerked again.
Hannah turned and looked at Borj. “Do you have any idea of what you are getting not only yourself into but your planet? This is just a taste of my parents; the very teeny, tiny tip of the iceberg.” She said with a small frown.
Borj pulled Hannah over on top of him enjoying her gasp of surprise. He looked down at her breasts watching as the tips hardened before his eyes. The responsiveness of her to him pulled at his own body. He would face a hundred Tilly and Angus Bell’s if it meant having Hannah, Borj thought as his eyes grew heavy with need again.
“I hope so.” Hannah said responding to his quietly muttered vow. “I really hope so.”
An hour later, Hannah was standing downstairs in Cosmos’ living quarters glaring at her grinning parents. They were worse than a couple of high school teenagers going on a field trip! Her mom was actually bouncing with excitement while her dad just looked with amusement at Hannah.