Promises to Keep

by Promises To Keep (lit) (NCP)

  The first lines appeared. "Results of Promise Marriage Meet 1. Number of women - 250. Number of men - 514. Number of women to receive bands - 238."

  There was a collective gasp. They’d known that most of the Earth women had attracted a man, but this was even better that expected. Over ninety-five percent of the women had been attached to. But the next statistic would be the critical one. How many of those who’d received bands would accept them and enter the symbols, indicating their willingness to give a band of their own?

  The next line displayed. "Number of symbols recorded - 238."

  There was a collective gasp and then a nearly deafening cheer went up that echoed through the room. They’d all been accepted--all of them!

  Maxxa clapped the shoulder of the nearest man grinning with joy and relief and stepped forward as the screen began to scroll with symbols and times, indicating when attached men and women would next meet. He saw the slender crescent moon come up and noted it was in the first group, less than an hour from now. The big man took off for the general’s suite.

  * * * *

  She’d accepted him. Garran turned his sleep-deprived eyes to his media panel as the marriage-meet results were announced and could scarcely believe it when he saw the slender crescent moon symbol scroll across the screen. He’d been unable to sleep...too much to think about, and he’d found one advantage to having a bodyguard. At least he’d had someone to play cards with.

  Garran’s excitement turned to shock as he notice the time of the next meet and realized he had less than an hour to get ready. This time they’d meet alone, in the dark so he could pull his mask off...and his robe...and whatever else seemed appropriate. Abruptly he remembered that he hadn’t bathed yesterday after the meet and he’d been worried about sweat.

  Sammul looked amused as Garran jumped up from the table where they’d been playing, dropping his cards in the process. Sammul had almost won the last hand as the general’s concentration had flagged during the long night.

  "I better wash up."

  "Take your time." Sammul grabbed the brown robes where they’d been tossed after Garran’s return from the meet. A brief sniff, and he held them further away as he headed in the direction of the sanitizer. "You might consider some stronger deodorant, General. I’ll get these cleaned up."

  Suppressing a groan, Garran headed for his bedroom and the adjacent sanitary. He must have some kind of antiperspirant that would make him agreeable to his lady.

  He nearly tripped when he got to the door, realizing what he’d thought. His lady. That’s what Sarah was now. Grinning, Garran fled through the doorway, tearing his clothes off in his haste.

  Freshly laundered brown robes waited for him on his bed when he exited the sanitary. Dismayed, Garran eyed the narrow bed as he pulled on the trousers and loose top. It would be too small for two unless those two were very friendly, and he couldn’t predict Sarah would be friendly enough to sleep in such a small bed with him. Maybe Bethan could find a bigger mattress somewhere. He decided to ask her about it when he saw her.

  Of course, first he had to get a band from Sarah. First things first, after all.

  In the lounge he found that Maxxa had arrived and both he and Sammul waited for him, apparently intending to accompany him.

  That’s all he needed, was two of them hovering over him when he went to meet Sarah. "Sammul, why don’t you go back to your quarters?"

  The big man folded his arms and glared with narrowed eyes at Garran. "Nope, I’m coming with you."

  No way Garran was going to be saddled with both bodyguards. "You didn’t get any sleep last night. How can you protect me if you’re too tired to stay awake?"

  Obviously Sammul didn’t like that observation, but he seemed stuck for a reasonable argument in response. He glowered at Garran then nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess you’re right." He nodded at Maxxa. "Take good care of him."

  * * * *

  In the main assembly hall, Sarah and the other twenty-nine women assigned to her time-period took seats on the large couches to wait for their men.

  Their men...her man...it still seemed like a dream come true. This time tomorrow, if everything went well, she’d be married. Nervously Sarah fiddled with her hooded robe, the crescent moon band around one wrist, and the men’s sized wristband she’d placed on her other. She’d give one or the other band to her unknown man, depending on whether or not she decided to be his wife.

  Be his wife. Oh wow, it was really happening. Sarah took a deep breath and tried to calm her raging heartbeat. For a moment she was grateful for the masking garments that hid her features from the rest of the people in the room, including the other women and the normally dressed Gaian guards. Of course, the women were probably as anxious as she was. She could hear nervous laughter from some of them as the time came for the men to appear.

  The tall doors at the side of the room opened and dark robed figures flowed in, moving as fast as the inhibiting outer garments would allow them. Sarah subdued her own tense chuckle at the men’s rapid approach. It seemed they were as eager for this meet as the women were.

  When they reached the women, there was some quick shuffling as the men sought the one white-gowned lady that held his band. As Sarah watched, the pairing seemed to take no time. Even without seeing her face, each man seemed to recognize his own lady, his attachment sense locating her amongst the rest.

  When a man found his lady, he collected her hand and raised it to his masked lips. That it also put the band she wore in eyeshot almost seemed beside the point. These men knew their woman, sight unseen. If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, Sarah would have never believed it. As it was, the matching process intrigued her.

  Wouldn’t Karen have found it fascinating? Her friend had been interested in unusual hormonal problems in humans. She could have done an entire study on the Gaians. What a pity they were the ones responsible for her death.

  Sarah subdued the unwelcome melancholy thinking about her friend gave her. As Bethan had said, people died in the war, on both sides. Obviously Bethan and Symon had lost someone close to them due to Earth’s actions, and they didn’t blame her for that. Let the dead lie buried. She should give the Gaians, including her unknown would-be husband, the benefit of her doubt.

  Speaking of whom, the man was late. All the other couples had formed, the brown-robed men sitting with their ladies, low voices talking earnestly. Sarah was the only woman sitting alone.

  Surely he hadn’t forgotten, or worse, changed his mind. She felt the band with the crescent moon, his pledge. No, he’d be here. This meet was scheduled for an hour, he was just a little late.

  As she looked around for her wayward male, one of the couples stood, the man taking the woman’s hand and leading her to a side corridor. Sarah had been told that rooms had been prepared there, rooms without lights, but furnished with soft cushions. Once in a "dark room" a couple could engage in whatever activity most appealed to them.

  At least that’s the way Bethan had phrased it. Sarah blushed clear to her toes thinking about what a man and woman could do under those circumstances and once again was grateful for her covering garment.

  As she watched, another couple stood and followed the first one, the man’s arm around the waist of his lady, then a third rose to their feet. Wistfully her gaze followed them to the door of the dark room corridor.

  "My deepest apologies. You’ve been waiting." She’d only heard his voice once before, but knew it immediately. Swiveling, Sarah gazed at the hooded dark figure that had appeared behind her. As he took her hand she noticed another man behind him dressed in the same uniform as the Gaian guards, but much bigger. Sarah gaped as the pale-haired man moved away to stand with the other Gaians guarding the room. She’d thought the man beside her was big, but this other was the biggest human being she’d ever seen.

  Her wayward male took a seat next to her, still holding her hand. He squeezed it, reclaiming her attention. "Hey, Earth woman. I’m over here."

 
"So you are. I was just noticing how big your friend was. What is he, some sort of bodyguard?"

  He gave a low chuckle. "Why do you ask? Is my body in danger?" One hand slid along her wrist, fingering the narrow band with the symbol she’d chosen. "Perhaps I need someone to protect me from you?"

  His touch flustered her. She wasn’t used to a man’s caress being so...pleasant! "You have nothing to fear from me."

  "Oh, I think I do. My heart could definitely be in danger from you, Earth woman." His voice teased her and put shivers up her spine and ripples into her core.

  Endangered, him? She was in far more danger than he was.

  He pulled her arm with the larger band up closer, apparently curious about the symbol on it. One finger tapped it. "What creature is this?"

  Sarah resisted the urge to laugh. "It’s an Earth bird, common a long time ago. There were still a few in the zoological parks when I was a child. It’s called a stork."

  He did laugh. "A stork. I’d heard of such animals, but didn’t know they still existed. Why would you choose this, I wonder. Could it be a hint about who or what you are?" His hand moved to her thigh, stroking it gently. "Or are you just boasting about what long legs you have?"

  Warmth flowed from the places his hand touched, and Sarah reveled in it. She could get used to this kind of attention.

  She gave him an answer that was no answer. "I thought it appropriate at the time. Are you going to tell me why you picked a crescent moon?"

  "Not today...eventually, I will. Assuming there is an eventually for us." She felt his arm go around her waist, and she leaned into him, felt the strength of his broad shoulders under the shapeless garments. His deep voice whispered into her ear. "What do you say, Earth woman? Shall we find someplace secluded where we can make up our minds about the future?"

  Sarah stiffened. He wanted to go to the dark room. Raising her head she realized they were the only couple left, the rest of the hooded figures having already sought the private spaces put aside for them.

  He wanted to go to a dark room and when they were there.… Sarah pulled away, out of his arms.

  "Is something wrong? Is there a problem?" Concern colored his voice and at it, she felt embarrassment at her reluctance. He probably expected her to be comfortable with having men touch her and if they were to become man and wife, being intimate would be part of it.

  "Its hard to explain. I’m not sure I’m ready for...." She let her voice trail off then took hold of her flagging courage. "I’m not used to being alone with a man."

  "Particularly one you’ve barely met?" His fingers moved enticingly along her waist and he buried his face into her neck. She felt the heat of his breath through the hood of her garment and it seemed to flow down the front of her dress to her breasts, leaving them aching.

  "Something like that." Even to her ears she sounded shaky and it wouldn’t take much for this man to figure out how he was affecting her. Firmly she tried to gain control of her wayward emotions, barely able to restrain herself from putting her own arms around him.

  "Do you trust me, Earth woman? If I promise that nothing will happen without your permission and cooperation, will you come with me?"

  "Do you promise that?"

  "With all my heart." He stood and pulled her to her feet. "Come, I promise to do nothing more than fulfill your dreams."

  Sarah allowed him to direct along the path the other couples had taken, her suitor’s arm keeping her close but taking no liberties. At least not yet, she reminded herself.

  His promise had caught her off-guard. Could this stranger really know about the kind of dreams she tended to have? A shudder that had nothing to do with fear ran through her as they moved through the doorway.

  * * * *

  What was wrong with this woman? She was as skittish as a newly-hatched charner. Garran kept his arm around her, as much to give her support as to satisfy his own desire to touch her. This was nothing like his first time with Metta--she’d practically dragged him to the dark room, her eagerness for their matching nearly surpassing his own.

  Sarah acted as if she was afraid to be alone with him and why would she fear him? He’d caused her no harm.

  A dark thought occurred to him. Perhaps she’d been abused by a man...possibly even raped while on Earth? Anger surged through him, fury at the thought of someone hurting his lady, bruising the soft skin he’d not even gotten the chance to feel yet. Her head barely cleared his shoulder. She was so small, felt so delicate on his arm--it was easy to imagine an Earthen frackscum taking advantage of her.

  Of course, just the thought of anyone touching this woman, with or without her permission, made him feel murderous. She would be his and no one else’s.

  She leaned into him, her warm curves and sweet scent teasing his rage into need. Pure desire hardened his body and he adjusted his hold to move Sarah further to one side, to keep the evidence away from her notice. If a man had hurt her during sex, he didn’t want her to believe he’d do the same thing.

  Not that he didn’t want sex. At this point he could think of little more he wanted than to have Sarah’s body under his, encasing his newly regained hardness with her sweet warmth. He leaned closer and filled his nose with her aroma, distinctive even through the heavy robes. He knew what it was--her body was reacting to him, making her ready for possession. It was a normal part of the matching process, but significant in that it was between a Gaian man and Earth woman. She really did act like a woman of his people.

  Garran acknowledged that fact even as he struggled to control his reaction to it. It’d been a long time since he’d smelled the arousal of a woman, and hers drove him wild.

  He needed to keep calm, not let her know how deeply he was affect by her. With her innate nervousness, Sarah didn’t need him rutting all over her. At least not yet. Garran suppressed a chuckle he didn’t want to explain to the woman under his arm.

  They’d reached the dark rooms and one of the guards indicated the one reserved for him and Sarah. Heavy black curtains covered the doorway, needed to keep the dim lighting of the corridor from infiltrating the shadowed interior. Sarah turned and he could feel her trembling against him.

  Perhaps he was overestimating how nervous she was. It could simply be passion. If she accepted him as her husband, then he could take it as a sign of her willingness to make love to him.

  Garran tapped the stork band on Sarah’s wrist. Pitching his voice as seductively as he could, he whispered into her ear. "Will you give this to me now, before we go in?"

  "Can’t I wait? I mean.…"

  He swallowed his disappointment. Maybe it would be better to wait and not make love to her at all today. His body rebelled at that idea, but he couldn’t take her if she didn’t accept him whole-heartily.

  There was another aspect to it as well. Suppose they made love and later, when she knew who he was, she regretted it. Garran remembered how angry Sarah had been when she’d struck him, the name she’d called him.

  He wasn’t sure why she’d been so upset. How had she known his name, much less be able to recognize him? And she hadn’t been alone in that, that other woman had known who he was as well. He’d been ignoring that for as long as he could, but it was clear that Sarah was going to have a reaction to finding out that her husband wasn’t quite the stranger she thought he was.

  He hadn’t answered her yet. Giving her a reassuring hug, he tried to calm her fears. "I want that band more than I can tell you, but not until you are ready to give it to me. When you feel comfortable enough to offer it, I’ll be happy to accept it. Also, nothing will happen between us unless we both want it. Will that do, Earth woman?"

  His answer seemed to please her and some of the tension eased from her shoulders. "That will do nicely, Gaian man. She stepped away, toward the curtained doorway, then offered her hand to him.

  "Shall we go in, Gaian man?"

  Chapter Ten

  They weren’t kidding, Sarah thought, when they said it was a dark room. Once the cu
rtain behind them closed, she couldn’t have seen her hand in front of her face--or her suitor’s face in front of her hand. The Gaians were serious about making sure that she couldn’t identify him by sight.

  But scent, touch, and taste--those would be possible. Now that she had his promise not to take advantage of her, Sarah looked forward to discovering his. She already knew the timbre of his voice, which rippled along her senses every time she heard it. Recently her dream lover’s voice had taken on that same, heavy resonance.

  In the blackness of the room, she was glad that Bethan had showed them what a dark room was like with the lights turned on, the better to allay their fears of the unknown. She knew that the bulky softness in front of her was a raised padded platform that nearly filled the room. Not quite a bed, it was designed to be a comfortable place for the couple to sit--or lie down together.

  To her left was a hook, placed on the wall at just the height of her head, designed to hold her hooded robe. The opposite wall held a similar hook for the man to use. The room was warm and dampness trickled down between her shoulders. She could pretend it was because of the warm room and the robe, and not her awareness of the man behind her.

  There was the sound of rustling cloth and Sarah realized that he’d taken off the hooded robe, using the hook. Then warm hands stroked her upper arms, setting up trailing ripples of sensation that kept synchronous time.

  He tugged on her robe and his deep voice came over her shoulder. "Do you need help with this?"

  "No...." Speech trailing off, she pulled on her robe, lifting the concealing veil and hood and dragging the rest off her shoulders. With shaking hands she lifted it to the hook.

  She felt his hand slide up her arm, bare in her sleeveless gown, and across her shoulder to find the long braid of her hair. Tentative fingers stroked the strands.

  "So soft." He lifted the length off her neck and she felt it slip through his fingers. "And long. I’ve never felt hair this long before."