Knadyn: A Terraneu Novel (Book Six)

by McKnight, Stormy

  Knadyn had begun the lesson by showing her the first step to swimming. He wanted her to pretend to put her face in the water and blow air out of her nose, like making bubbles. She had looked at him like he was crazy.

  “Pretend to put my face in the water and blow bubbles?” she had asked incredulously.

  “Yes.” He had bent over and placed his face about a foot above the water. Then to her amusement, he started blowing air noisily out of his nose. Standing up he saw her attempts to hide her laughter and smiled, “Like that. Trust me.”

  Ava didn’t believe he knew what he was talking about, but nevertheless bent over and started to blow air out of her nose. Laughing softly all the while.

  “Very good.” Knadyn encouraged. “Now do that same thing but with your face in the water. Like this.” He bent at the waist again, only this time he allowed his face to go into the water. When he was finished demonstrating he stood upright and tossed his head, water flying everywhere. “Remember, keep your eyes closed, it is salty and will burn if you keep them open. Also, the key is to blow air out your nose as well as your mouth.” He wiped his face and waited for her to try.

  Looking down Ava figured it was now or never and scrunching her eyes closed she put her face into the water. Blowing air out of her nose to make bubbles, she kept blowing until she ran out of air then jerked her head out of the water. She threw her hair out of the way and laughed, “I did it.”

  “Yes.” Knadyn was smiling warmly, his purple eyes intense. “Keep practicing that…blowing bubbles. If you get comfortable, turn your head side to side when you need a breath. Like this.” He demonstrated the technique he was talking about then started toward the beach. “Be careful to watch for any larger waves. I will be right back.”

  Ava watched him retreat up the beach and wondered at his sudden departure. What had him so agitated? With a shrug, she kept practicing. By the end of the day, she was an expert on blowing bubbles our her nose and turning her head side to side in the water for air. The next day Knadyn promised to teach her floating.

  That is how it had been for a month. Every morning Knadyn would give her a swimming lesson. After blowing bubbles and floating, he taught her the doggy paddle. She felt ridiculous but Knadyn said it was the most basic way to stay above water, besides floating which she had already learned. After that, he started teaching her the strokes that would move her around in the water. They were freestyle, back, side and breaststrokes. She liked the backstroke but between the currents and her swimming, she ended up zigging and zagging all over the place. Her favorite stroke was freestyle. She didn’t have the stamina to go very far since her muscles hadn’t improved that much. Still swimming every day was making her stronger so she kept at it. Strangely most days Knadyn would leave her in the water and end up pacing up the beach.

  ~*~*~*~

  Ava made her way to the teleport room where her weekly food supply would be waiting on the teleporter. Knadyn’s uncle had given her a Transport 101 walkthrough in case of emergency but she hadn’t needed to use it so far. She had to smile to herself over the first month of life at the beach. She had adjusted to the weather, and she was even working on her comfort level in swimwear. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the water and activities. She was just very aware of how un-Terraneu like she was. Her skin was trying to tan but was more red than golden. Her hair was gaining some luster but nothing compared to the women Knadyn was used to and that was the core of her problem.

  She was beginning to really like Knadyn but was having a hard time not comparing herself to the women that he was used to. They were so healthy and … perfect. What could he find attractive about her?

  Making her way into the dome, she was surprised to see Amber standing hesitantly in the room. “Is something wrong?” she hurried to ask. They were supposed to keep clear of Knadyn so Ava immediately worried something had happened.

  “No. Everything is fine.” Amber rushed to assure her, “I just wanted to drop off your food and see how things were progressing.”

  “Everything is going really well.” Ava took the basket of food Amber was holding out.

  “Really?” His mother looked expectantly at her and Ava couldn’t help but continue.

  “Knadyn is doing well. He hasn’t had very many memory lapses and seems to be in really good health.” Trying to convey more information that his mother might want to know she said, “For the most part I think Knadyn has recovered nicely. Judging by his brother Knacayn, I would say that Knadyn is almost back to full musculature. He is getting as much sun and water as I can force on him. His hair is growing very quickly and he thinks it is almost ready for a trim. His skin is also gaining a nice golden tan…” Ava stopped talking when she noticed Knadyn’s mother looking at her slyly. “What?”

  “Nothing. I am just making a mental note of the things to send along next week.”

  Ava couldn’t help but think that Amber was lying. She was up to something judging by the calculated look on her face. “Okay. Thank you.”

  Looking Ava over she smiled, “How is the variety of clothing we packed working out for you?”

  “Very well. I’m glad you talked me into various sizes.”

  Amber laughed softly, “I knew that you had never been around a consistent supply of food. In the six months you are here at the beach you are sure to…” she paused and waved her hands, “Uhh…fill out your clothing even more.” Amber finished, blushing slightly.

  Ava looked down at her cover-up. Between the fruits, vegetables and fish she was catching she had filled out a bit.

  Amber suddenly pulled her into a fierce hug. “Thank you for taking care of Knadyn. I am glad that he has somebody here with him.” She jerked back just as suddenly and hurried for the transport pad. “I better get back. I don’t want to jeopardize Knadyn’s health if he were to see me. Take care of him…and yourself.” Before Ava could respond, Amber was gone.

  Taking the food and moving back along the pathway to the beach Ava felt a skip in her step. She had never had cause to be this carefree and it felt wonderful. The worries of Earth and all that chaos seemed so far away. She knew that it would all come crashing back soon enough. For now, she was going to enjoy this little break from reality.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Knadyn watched Ava frolicking in the water. He shook his head at the transformation his friend had gone through. It wasn’t her physical appearance that drew his attention the most. Although he would be a liar if he said he hadn’t noticed her body at all. She had gone from wearing the one-piece tank suit, to the tankini, to the monokini to finally the bikini’s that he loved to see her in. Not because they were sexy as hell, though they were that. He loved seeing her in them because it meant her self-confidence was growing. It was that self-confidence and her bubbly personality that had really come shining through. They had spent the last few months playing in the water, lounging in the hammock, and reading, playing board games, card games and listening to music. He liked doing all of that but his favorite times were taking walks on the beach, talking with Ava and dancing. Not that he could get her to dance very often. She seemed to struggle with the concept of letting herself flow and move to the music. It was nice that she tried though.

  He knew that there was still damage to his memories and his family members were working on fixing it. He had been informed that he and Ava were going to stay here until the matter was resolved. He didn’t mind since the beach was very nice, and Ava was fun to be with. The only shadow on this experience was the frustration he felt when he stumbled with a memory. He always knew when he said something wrong because Ava would have to help him around a thought or concept. He was just grateful that they were minor hiccups and nothing major had happened.

  Looking back toward the water, he froze. Ava was gone. Turning on the spot, he looked down the beach both ways and still couldn’t see her. She had become a fairly proficient swimmer, but the waves and currents could still be tricky. Rushing toward the last place he had seen her
, there she was. Floating under the water, arms spread out at her sides and unmoving. He panicked, did a clean dive into the waves to where she was floating and grabbed her. Tucking her under his arm, he pushed against the outgoing waves to get her back to shore. His only thought was to get her to the beach and see if he could revive her. He was about knee deep in the waves when he felt her laughing against his side.

  “Uh. Knadyn…” she was barely able to talk through the laughter, “What are you doing?”

  Knadyn felt the heat rising in his face, “Saving you?”

  “Ohh. Okay. That’s nice.” She relaxed against his hold.

  Letting go and helping her right herself in the water Knadyn tried to assist her with the tangled mess her hair had become. “I’m sorry. I thought you were drowning…” Helping her tuck her hair back, his fingers brushed the skin of her shoulders and neck. Just as it had during all of her swimming lessons, his body responded to her nearness and he lost his train of thought. Normally he would excuse himself and go running on the beach to get his body under control.

  This time he couldn’t keep his fingers from trailing down her arms then back up to rest on her shoulders. Her skin was so soft and warm. His fingers were sending little electric charges up his hands and arms to his brain. Ava had stopped laughing and her hands had started to come between them as if to push him back. However, instead of flattening on his chest as he expected, they moved along his stomach.

  “Knadyn.” Ava began and afraid she was going to protest he only knew of one way to keep her from talking. He leaned into her until their chests were touching and at her shocked gasp of surprise, he fused their mouths together. Since her lips were already parted, he was able to tentatively lick the seam of her lip and he almost died at the thrill when her tongue flicked out to meet his.

  Knadyn knew he was in trouble. His whole body was on fire and Ava was the only one who could save him. He used one hand splayed in her hair to keep her pressed into the kiss, the other hand he let travel over her body. She was still slightly gaunt, but she had gained some muscle tone. His hand found one globe of her ass and pulled her hard against his arousal. In his excitement, he had her half bowed back and neither of them cared. She was making soft sounds in her throat that were driving him crazy. His kiss became demanding. His tongue was openly dueling with hers, his teeth grazing and plumping her lower lip. He used his chest to rub against her breasts and he could feel the answering pebbling of her nipples against his skin. His fingers deftly untied the strings to her top and he moved just enough so that the material could fall away before he pressed back in. The feel of her naked chest against his was electric. Her nails scoring down his abs and her fingers dipping into his swim trunks made his knees go weak.

  Dragging his mouth away from her lips, he trailed a hot path down her neck. Since Ava was so small, he used his hold on her for leverage to lift her breasts level with his mouth. He was just about to get a taste of the sweet morsel when a wave knocked him off kilter and down they went.

  Knadyn wasn’t as quick to recover as Ava. He came up out of the water to see her rushing along the beach back toward their dome. So much for taking up where they left off. He was going to have to cool off a bit longer in the water before he went to talk with her. If he got close right now, he would try to press her into something that she obviously needed time to think over. Taking a swim Knadyn let his thoughts race around. Ava was his best friend and he wanted to take their relationship into a physical one. The only question was, did she? He figured it was time to find out. After giving Ava enough time to sort through her own thoughts, Knadyn started swimming back to the beach.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ava watched as Knadyn swam in the ocean, his strong frame taking him further out than she would have been comfortable going. She knew that they were going to have to talk about what happened between them. There were a couple of ways this could play out. She could just shrug off the kiss and insist that it wouldn’t happen again. The problem with taking that stand was that she was not entirely certain she would be able to refrain from kissing him again. The idea of holding out for another three months was laughable really. Being in Knadyn’s arms had ignited the most powerful attraction she had ever felt and she wanted his arms around her again. She admired everything about him and the physical pull to be close to him was almost painful.

  Then there was the route of getting sweaty and doing nasty things to each other, no strings attached. Her breasts got heavy, her nipples tightened and she got wet at the thought of Knadyn naked. The only problem with that scenario was in three months she would be returning to Earth, and Knadyn wouldn’t. Could she enjoy his body for the time allowed then walk away? That was the million-dollar question.

  With a sigh of relief, she saw that Knadyn was swimming back. He had been out longer than prudent and Ava grabbed some food for herself and extra water for him. She swallowed hard at the picture he made walking out of the surf. The water ran down his body in streams. When he reached to push the hair off his face, his biceps bulged and flexed. Her mouth went from dry to watering as her eyes followed the small lines of water. From his muscled shoulders, over defined pecs, losing speed as they trailed over his taut stomach and disappeared into his swim trunks. She could only imagine the path from lower belly to mid-thigh.

  Shaking her head, she hurried to bring the water out to the hammock area. It seemed to be his favorite place and it gave her time to compose herself. Arranging the food before her, she picked at some fruit and watched under her lashes as he walked into the lounge area.

  “I got you some extra water. You were out for a long time.” Her voice came out slightly huskier than she would have liked. It was just hard to concentrate with him this close. All that golden skin and masculine heat mixed with the smell of salty sea pulled at her like a lodestone.

  “Thank you for the drink.” He arranged his long frame in a seat next to her. His knee was brushing against hers and she had the sudden urge to slide her chair back before she jumped in his lap. “We need to talk about that kiss and what it means.”

  Ava had been told that it was part genetic traits and part upbringing that all males from Terraneu were forward. They didn’t play games. If there was something on their minds, they said it. Therefore, when Knadyn brought up the kiss she wasn’t surprised. She was glad too because she didn’t want to sidestep the issue either.

  “I agree with you.” She pushed a piece of fruit around on her plate then gave up and dropped her fork. “I think I should go first.” Placing her hands on the table she tried to explain, “I am deeply attracted to you. That much is obvious. We have become close friends and I feel more comfortable with you than any male I have ever known.” When he broke into a huge smile and went to lean forward, she held up a hand. “However. You are here to heal from your injuries and there are events playing out that are going to take time to see how they resolve. We can’t have a physical relationship until those things—”

  “What are these ‘things’ and we will work on them.” He insisted. His fiery purple eyes fixed on her intently.

  Ava spoke softly, “I don’t want you to have any regrets when you fully remember your life before me and what happened on Earth.” She was walking a thin line talking about things he might not remember. She ran the risk of his trying too hard to think and having a reaction.

  Knadyn insisted, “What I feel for you is too deep. I don’t need to remember my life before meeting you.” His brow was furrowing and Ava hurried to change the subject.

  “There is also the issue of our different futures.” Ava was again dancing on that fine line.

  “What could be so different about our futures?” his purple eyes were burning into her.

  Ava looked at him sadly, “This whole situation is an unknown. There are some things I think we should put off talking about for fear they could impact your health. You are going to have to trust me that we need to hold back on a physical relationship until we are out of isolation.”r />
  He looked aghast, “That is another three months!” His gaze raked down her body, “I do not think I can keep my hands off of you for that long.”

  Ava felt a thrill at his words, yet she knew that things would change in three months. However, she was stubbornly determined to leave with as few regrets as possible and right now that meant keeping Knadyn at arm’s length. If things changed, she would figure it out as she went.

  “You are stronger than you think Knadyn. Three months is nothing.” She stared down at her plate again. She knew that she was going to have to play on his honor. It was another thing she was told was genetically strong in Terraneu males. “For my peace of mind, please let this drop for now.” She was pleading with her eyes for him to understand. She knew he wasn’t happy about it and maybe hurt as well when he abruptly stood up and nodded.

  “I will agree to let it go … for now Ava.” He moved toward the dome and looked at her over his shoulder, “I just do not understand how you think I am so damaged that I cannot know that we are meant for each other.” Before she could say anything else, he walked into their living dome and was quickly out of sight.

  Ava felt herself deflate like a balloon. The tension between them was only going to get stronger and she didn’t know how much fight she had in her. When he had said that he knew they were meant to be together she wanted to run into his arms and never let go. She couldn’t do that because she realized something he didn’t. They were from two separate worlds and being together wasn’t written in the stars for them.