Ayrie: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  "You're welcome. I'll see you in the morning."

  She nodded and smiled, but I could see she was practically unconscious already. I walked back down the hall into my bedroom and shut the door.

  "This is going to be difficult," I said to the empty room.

  I lay down to sleep, but my mind was restless. My thoughts kept drifting back to Sam, who was a few feet away from me. Only a door separated us. I knew a way to force my body to sleep — I had to push it until I was exhausted. That shouldn't be a problem. I'd go for a run in the park.

  I changed into shorts and a T-shirt and snuck out of my apartment. Sam was snoring on the couch with an arm flung back over her head. She looked sweet, but I didn't let my gaze linger on her too long. Now it was time to run if I was going to get any sleep tonight.

  Part of the problem, I reflected, was that I hadn't gotten laid in a long time. There were plenty of chances for me; with my looks, there were always girls who wanted me to take them home. However, I was not going to mess around with an unsuspecting woman for a one night stand. My work was dangerous. Everyone around me thought I was a lifeguard, but that job was a piece of fiction. In my real job, there were many things at stake, and I couldn't afford to lose focus.

  I wondered why I put Samantha into my life if I wanted to concentrate. I guess she was different. I needed her to keep me out of jail, and my freedom was essential if I was going to accomplish my mission. Since my release from prison, I had been trying to get back into a few elitist circles. These people were wealthy and more tiresome than I remembered, but I could put up pretenses as well. I had discovered I could tolerate a lot to accomplish a life goal.

  I was an undercover government operative investigating a child trafficking organization. It was difficult running an investigation from jail. I was confident the person behind the organization was named Harrington, and I believed he knew I was after him. He was the reason I was in jail in the first place. I believed he revealed some compromising information about me to my brother and sister, and they were forced to turn me in.

  We don't have much crime on Vandwa, so when there is something illegal going on, there isn't always full disclosure. There were stories about missing children on the news. No one could cover up a child who disappeared, but there were reasonable explanations. Maybe they got lost. Maybe they ran away from home. I never had heard anyone mention the most likely explanation: maybe they had been kidnapped to be sold for credits.

  Children had always gone missing on Vandwa, like everywhere else. But with the sea everywhere, most missing children were presumed dead. They could breathe underwater, of course, but if the child became unconscious, they wouldn't be able to use their underwater breathing organs. Our abilities weren't magic and required conscious thought. The dangers of the ocean might explain the disappearances if you didn't know any better.

  I knew better. Some children had escaped captivity, and their stories would make anyone cry. Many kids were kidnapped and sold for adoption. Although adoption was bad, it was not a terrible fate. The children were bought by wealthy people who couldn't conceive, but they were alive.

  Unfortunately, some children were sold for their organs. The thought made me gag. Either way, someone was tearing children away from their mothers, and it was difficult for me to live a happy life when this was happening on my planet. I never wanted it to happen again. Maybe I couldn't save everyone, but I could save some. I would do my best to put away the assholes stealing our future and selling it to the highest bidder.

  It was wrong, it was cruel, and it was my job to stop it.

  I headed down the boardwalk towards the park. Even though I lived here, I was still amazed at what Ashlyn and Nathaniel accomplished in a short time. Everything felt solid and was well-anchored. You would never know that it floated on the sea, with no natural land around for miles. No cities had reported any destabilization for two years. I didn't think it was possible, but the engineers had used science and materials from other planets that were resistant to corrosion.

  When I reached the park, I turned in and ran along a lighted path. None of our cities had significant amounts of street crime, but I saw no need to tempt fate by running in the dark in the middle of the night.

  As I moved and my body switched gears, my mind drifted. I couldn't believe that I was getting married tomorrow. The idea scared me.

  I had never planned on getting married at all after seeing how my father treated my mother. There were nights of arguing, storming out in rage, and not knowing where my parents were. Nat and I had both sworn off marriage forever. But separately, both of us had gotten into a situation where marriage was the only thing that could get us out of trouble. Thank goodness for TerraMates and family fortunes that could afford to pay for the service.

  Like most innovations, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that it was happening in front of my eyes, I could see many flaws in the plan to keep me out of jail. I knew Samantha was beautiful, but I had underestimated my attraction to her. I was determined not to sleep with her and make my relationship with her and my family more complicated.

  I hadn't thought about our day-to-day living arrangements. If she were messy, it would drive me crazy.

  The ultimate concern was the most unnerving. I might not be able to protect her in a firefight. If anything happened to Sam because of my work, I would never forgive myself. The focus of my career was to save innocent lives. I didn't want Sam's life to be sacrificed to save others. It was unacceptable to me morally, and she had no idea what she was getting into by becoming my bride.

  I had promised to keep my job a secret. It made me feel guilty jeopardizing an innocent. If it were up to me, I would be upfront and tell her, "If you marry me, you might get killed if everything goes to hell."

  But I couldn't say that.

  I had gone to jail for over a year to keep my secret, so I certainly wasn't going to do it just to have full disclosure before I married a human. I hoped she would understand in the future, but my mission was everything to me. What happened to my life was of little consequence. I had the potential to impact many lives.

  As I completed one final loop, I felt fatigue dragging at my body. I hadn't made it as far as I wanted to, but I thought it would be enough. I would go home, get a good night's sleep, and have my wedding the next day.

  I had never gotten out of the habit of scouting my surroundings. There was a figure lurking in the shadows in front of my apartment building. He might have been waiting for a ride.

  I took a loop around the block, and the man was in the same spot. He kept looking up at my apartment. The appearance of a person who is waiting for something and the aura of an individual who is pretending to wait for something are different things.

  This man wasn't waiting for anything. He was spying on something. By the way he kept looking at my living quarters, he was probably spying on me.

  Chapter Three

  SAMANTHA

  My alarm went off at six thirty. I finally got out of bed at seven o'clock. The buzzing noise rang through the room for nearly half an hour, but sometimes that's what it took to get me out of bed.

  I was still tired. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt hopeless. How could I transform my hideously exhausted mug into the face of a blushing bride? It seemed like an impossible task, but I would do my best.

  I took a shower with the temperature turned as cold as I could manage. I did some yoga. The poses would reduce the puffiness by helping escort extra fluid out of my body. Certain poses helped my face look better as well.

  I looked into the mirror again and smiled. Not too bad. Most of the puffiness was gone, and I merely looked tired and pale after all the travel. I could deal with tired and pale skin. That's why I had make-up.

  I did my hair first, though, putting it into a twist I hoped looked upper-class. I couldn't help it if Jori thought I was poor white trash, but I was certainly going to look elegant at my wedding.

  At Christmas, he
told me in a fit of rage what he thought of me - I wasn't worthy of him. He apologized afterwards, of course. As if any apology could change the words he said to my face. I knew his true impression of Samantha Morrow underneath his veneer of social conditioning, but I tried not to let it bother me.

  Once I finished with my hair, it was make-up time. I started things off by using concealer to cover up the bags under my eyes. Blush helped perk up my ghostly-looking face. Eyeliner and eye shadow gave my eyes definition and made them pop; a clear lip gloss finished the job. My lips had a nice natural color to them. I rarely covered them up with lipstick.

  Finally, I pulled on some stockings with a garter. Ashlyn had given them to me. Otherwise, I would never have thought of wearing them. Tights were all I needed to survive. Stockings and a garter reminded me of a woman who wanted to please a man in bed, which was not my style.

  I hoped I could live with Jori for a year without strangling him. I wasn't worried about pleasing him in bed or out of it.

  He had made our situation clear last night. We were in a business arrangement, nothing more. We were roommates, and he thought I was the annoying dirty one. The prospects of having sex with him were slim to none.

  I couldn't let it bother me. Even though I was the only one who knew about my stockings and garter belt, I secretly felt sexy wearing them. Maybe I would have more confidence with Jori if I channelled stockings power.

  When I stepped in front of the full-length mirror, I gasped. The long white gown was simple and draped elegantly on my body. It didn't have anything particularly fancy, but it was satin and looked sophisticated. A casual observer would not be able to guess that I didn't have enough sleep. My large breasts were producing an ample amount of cleavage in my push-up bra, which made me feel confident.

  Ashlyn was going to be jealous. She's smaller than me. Nathaniel liked her chest, but she's always wished she had a bit more than a handful up there.

  I imagined Jori was going to be eating his heart out today. I knew he was attracted to me ever since I noticed his erection when we stole a kiss in the dark living room at Ashlyn and Nathaniel's house. Even if he acted as cold as an ice man, I knew I could charm him if I wanted to.

  Not that it mattered.

  I grabbed a little purse that matched the dress and stepped out of my room into the hallway. I strutted into the living room and found Jori pacing around.

  "Good morning," I said, and he whipped around. He froze when he saw me and couldn't stop looking at me, as still as a statue. I frowned, touching my face. "What? Is something wrong? I messed up my make-up, didn't I?"

  He came towards me like an animal, and then he stopped himself just before he reached me.

  "Nothing's the matter," he said slowly. "Everything is fantastic. You look incredible."

  I gazed at him, consciously preventing a smile from forming on my lips.

  Was I a woman who looked incredible, or a woman who could render an alien man speechless?

  "Are you ready to get this party started?" he asked.

  "No. But I'll never be ready."

  "Have you eaten anything?"

  I shook my head. I'd been too busy preparing myself to eat, and I was too nervous now to think about it.

  "We can go out for breakfast later. After our appointment," he told me.

  I noticed he was avoiding the word wedding. I didn't blame him. It scared me as well. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

  JORI

  "Are Ashlyn and Nathaniel going to meet us there?" Sam asked.

  "I think so," I said, walking towards the door. "The Dream got in around eight o'clock." Nathaniel had said they had docked already and were headed to the wedding venue. "We'll see them at the hotel."

  "That's good," she said. Sam seemed subdued now, and anxious. She had already changed from the confident vixen who emerged from her room a couple of minutes ago. I saw her rubbing her engagement ring, and the sight helped reality come crashing down around me. I was going to my wedding. In an hour, I was going to be a married man.

  "I have a car waiting for us downstairs," I said. "Shall we depart?"

  "Sure," she said. "Let's do this."

  I didn't answer her. I didn't want my voice to tremble and betray me. After I left the room, Sam followed me, and we walked down the stairs in silence. I tried not to watch out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't help noticing how graceful she appeared when she lifted her gown so she wouldn't trip on her way down.

  When she had appeared fully dressed from her room, she was a beautiful vision. The simple white dress emphasized her curves and her breasts were gorgeous — I wanted to bury my face in her cleavage. Her eyes mesmerized me. I had stared at her to the point of rudeness.

  It had taken everything in me not to burst out in laughter. She was the most beautiful female I had ever seen, and she was worried she had something on her face.

  I hoped I wouldn't be staring at her face all day, and I could keep myself under control. It was going to be difficult, but I had to keep reminding myself that she was my wife in name only. We were in a business arrangement, not a relationship.

  For a moment, I wondered if she liked how I looked. I had no way of telling. I certainly wasn't going to ask her.

  When we got to the hotel and found the room for the wedding, Ashlyn and Nathaniel were waiting for us, along with a justice of the peace to perform the ceremony. It was the same man that married my brother and his wife. He was a friend of the family and would take offense if anyone else officiated for me.

  "Sam!" Ashlyn shrieked. She came over to us as soon as we entered through the door. "You look fabulous."

  "Thanks," Sam said. She wasn't looking directly at Ashlyn but addressed the area around her. "It's my mother's dress."

  I left them to converse, making my way over to my brother. He was wearing a smart Vandwan outfit consisting of a white shirt that buttoned up in front, and beige loose fitting pants with a bright red sash tied at the waist. I, on the other hand, had opted for a modern black suit, black shirt, and a burgundy tie.

  "Hello, brother," Nathaniel said. His eyes were happy to see me, although I could always sense worry underneath the happiness. I knew Nathaniel thought his brother was a fuck-up. If I had not dedicated my life to eradicating the child slavery ring, I would have given up my job long ago to avoid seeing any further disappointment in his face. "Are you really going through with this?"

  I didn't return his smile. "I guess so."

  His face fell. He wasn't jovial any longer when he addressed me. "It's going to be okay, Jori. The priority is keeping you out of jail. Everything else will sort itself out."

  I nodded. Nat was such a great brother. When I thought about how I was deceiving him, I felt ill. He had always been concerned about me. The situation was not ideal, but I had chosen my path and I would see it through to the end.

  "Are you nervous?" he said with a grin.

  "What do you think?" I said, feeling sour.

  "I was too when Ashlyn and I got married. You have a ring, right?"

  I pulled my hand out of my pocket with the ring clutched in my fist. I flipped my hand around, palm up, and opened it proudly.

  "Nice. Does it fit with her engagement ring?"

  I nodded.

  "Wait a second. Jori, where did you get that ring?"

  My jaw clenched involuntarily. "Do you remember when Freya came to see me in jail?"

  "Yes."

  "She said Mom left her wedding ring to me."

  "To a boy?" He stared off into the distance as he tried to remember. "I do remember something like that. It seemed odd at the time."

  "It's bizarre, but it's Mom," I said. I shuffled my feet. "I tried to give it to Freya, but she said that if she ever got married, her husband would want to buy her a ring. She wasn't going to provide the ring for her wedding."

  "It's a little odd," Nat said with a laugh.

  "I stored it away, thinking it would never see the light of day."

  "
I don't remember Mom wearing either one of these rings."

  "She had kleapae in her fingers, remember? She couldn't wear any rings. Her fingers were crooked and knobby."

  "That's right. I had forgotten. How do you remember these things, Jori? You were young."

  "When her hands ached, I would take them and rub them. She used to tell me they felt better afterward." I smiled as I became lost in my memories.

  Nat sighed. "I wish she were here," he said.

  "Me too."

  We looked at each other. The sadness I felt was reflected in my brother's eyes. He pulled me into a hug and I hung on to my big brother for a moment. Not too long, because I was still a man. Then he slapped me on my back and stepped away.

  "Where's Freya?" I wondered.

  "She said she was close. She should be here any moment," Nathaniel said, looking towards the door.

  At that instant, our sister walked in. She was dressed in pale blue, trying to blend into the background. Freya had styled her dark brown hair in a bun. She looked radiant, no matter how much she attempted to conceal her good looks. She said hello briefly to the girls who were still talking but then she came straight over to us.

  "Jori, Nathaniel," she said, giving us each a hug. "I'm glad I'm not late. There was an accident over on Distoral Street and I ran over to get here in time. I think I have a blister."

  "Well, Jori?" Nat said. "Are you ready to start your new life?"

  I was terrified and not prepared to start anything. I glanced over at Sam and caught her eye. She gazed at me, and I found it difficult to look away. My mind was frazzled. I couldn't remember what color her eyes were, but I was determined to find out.

  "Let me check with Sam."

  I saw Nathaniel and Freya exchange glances out of the corner of my eye, but I was a grown man. I could do whatever I wanted. I ignored them and strutted over to Sam, never taking my eyes off of her.

  "It's showtime," I said.