TAKEN: Journey to a New Home

by Dillion, Taylor

  “What are smiling about?” Dezek growled as he shifted to kiss her temple.

  “You,” she said with a smile of her own. “Knights are boring anyway.” He frowned, puzzled.

  “I guess I need a translation for that.”

  She giggled. “Usually in fairy tales on earth, a knight, a warrior who wears steel armor, rides in and slays the dragon to rescue the princess. I have the hots for the dragon,” she told him laughing.

  “I’ll show you hot,” he growled at her as he flipped her, and claimed her mouth.

  When he left her mouth to nibble down her neck she told him, “You’re going to be late.”

  “Mmmm, so are you,” he said as he claimed a taut nipple and sucked. Her laughter cutoff as he slid his hand between her thighs and his talented fingers found her clit. She moaned and decided to fight back. She stroked her fingers across the spots on his nape while her other hand wrapped around his hardened shaft. He groaned, “Witch.”

  They teased each other relentlessly until he finally lost the battle and plunged deep into her. Her orgasm was swift and mind blowing dragging him with her as she contracted around him, demanding his surrender to her.

  “Damn, I hadn’t meant to let go so soon,” he groaned against her throat.

  “I’m not complaining,” she whispered in his ear. He rolled off her and out of the bed. Her disappointment at losing the warmth of him turned to surprise and squeals as he snagged her out of the bed and dumped her over his shoulder.

  “It’s time to clean ourselves,” he told her striding for the lavatory. Her laughter made him smile.

  “Bossy dragon!”

  He chuckled as he set her feet on the floor inside the cleaning cube. She smiled up at him.

  “You know I’ll never let you go,” he told her suddenly serious.

  “I’m counting on it,” she said as stroked the spots tapering from under his naval. That had him growling and taking her against the wall in the cube. When they finally cleaned themselves and left the cube she felt energized and ready to take on anything the day had for her. They dressed and exited into the passage.

  “By the way,” he said. “You’re not late. I set the alarm an hour early.” He grinned as he stole another kiss and headed for the lift.

  “Thank you!” she shouted as the doors of the lift closed on his smiling face.

  Chapter 16

  Their days fell into a routine. Working in the Hydro farm with Moz in the mornings and having lunch there usually with one or two of the paired males turning up to eat with them on any given day. After lunch Moz starting teaching the written language to them twice a week, Rose and Ashaa, who both linked so easily to the Zargazians around them, picked up not only the written language but the spoken as well by the time they reached Saneera. Their afternoons were spent either in the kitchen cooking or in 18-1 sewing. Sienna had managed to improve upon Wendy’s kitchen skills a little and Wendy had taught Sienna how to knit. Wendy and Natalie had also expanded the wardrobes of the three pregnant women with maternity wear. Samantha now at twenty weeks and at half way was really starting to show. Holly wasn’t far behind her.

  Blanca had managed to surprise everyone with her good behavior and was off restriction. While she still couldn’t cook, everyone was delighted with the baby things she crocheted. She made two small bears for Holly’s, one pink and one violet, along with blankets for each baby that had a light green back ground and both colors of bears to match. Samantha’s babies were each given gingerbread girls, one with red dress and one with a yellow dress. The matching blankets had a light blue background decorated with the gingerbread girls. For her own baby she crocheted a light pearl grey lamb with a matching blanket with a red background and the lamb on it. There were sets of booties and caps in a multitude of colors now stored in the lounge drawers with the spare women’s clothing. Sienna and the others were very impressed by how skilled she was. None of those that had known her before would have ever guessed that she was so talented. They also discovered she could sew. She made several dresses for the pregnant gang as they had started calling them that looked like something you’d buy in a department store. Sienna was impressed and shook her head many times over Blanca’s formerly wasted talents. Sienna was also impressed by how much easier she was to get along with and how well she was doing. Removing her from her home environment just might be the best thing to ever happen to the girl Sienna shared with Dezek one evening. Dezek agreed but kept watch. Much to their surprise Tek had apparently taken an interest in the teen and could often be found in her company.

  The three week journey to Saneera brought other changes too. Wendy, Taylor and Sienna all frequently ‘talked’ to their mates now but only Rose and Ashaa could ‘talk’ with all of the other crew members. Rose had also managed to sort out her garbled messages to Gval to his surprise which pleased Dezek greatly. Sienna wasn’t sure how far Holly’s relationship with Axon had progressed but she knew Holly was sleeping in his quarters nightly. Sienna had been distressed for Holly upon learning of Holly’s extreme claustrophobia. Axon had also spent much of his spare time configuring hologram units to turn a wall in the lounge and a wall in 18-1 into what looked like picture windows with amazing life like views of beautiful scenery from Lar-kevel. Holly’s stress level decreased significantly which pleased Vax and alleviated his concerns for her twins.

  The morning they arrived at Saneera, Sienna broached the subject of baby furniture and diaper materials. In the seven crates of sewing supplies they had found many delights most of which had indeed come from earth but no heavy cotton to make nappies.

  “Are you going to leave the ship today?” she asked. He turned to look at her and knew there was more to her question than what was on the surface. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “I was thinking I would take you with me.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. Saneera is a beautiful place and very safe. The tourist industry is the life blood of the planet. They have treaties with almost every one to prevent any violence from coming here. Races that stay in conflict with one another know that once they enter Saneeran space it’s an automatic truce until after they leave. Nothing like Katowia.”

  “Are the others coming?” she asked hopeful.

  “Yes. We have to have a meeting and I’m going to pair the ones without mates up with someone just to keep all of you out of trouble.”

  “What?! We don’t get in trouble,” she laughed.

  “Woman, you and your little tribe are trouble with a capital T,” he teased her with a wink and swat to her bottom. “If all of you can stay out of trouble, we’ll spend the night in one of the hotels.”

  “Well, we need to do a little shopping.” He groaned. “Hey it’s for the babies,” she told him returning the swat to his bottom.

  “What do you need? I’ll let Vax and Axon know and they’ll find out the best places,” he said kissing her temple. He was extremely affectionate and it didn’t matter if they were alone or in public which thrilled her.

  “We need to get cradles, cribs, baby bottles, teethers and some very heavy cotton or cotton type material to make diapers. We have six months left on this trip and Samantha only has twenty weeks of pregnancy left. That’s about five months. Holly’s due right around the time we’ll arrive at Lar-Kevel. Blanca won’t deliver until after our arrival.”

  He frowned. With a mock scowl he teased her, “Why did I buy you again? All this sounds like a lot of trouble.”

  She laughed threw a pillow at him which he easily fielded. “Listen dragon, that’s the consequences you have to live with when you abscond with a bevy of princesses.” She squealed as he scooped her up and dumped her on the bed pinning her there.

  “I think this princess needs a lesson in how treat a dragon.” He kissed her soundly.

  The door tone sounded and they both sighed. “Time to work, princess.” He got up from the bed and pulled her to her feet. They went to the door and found Rose an
d Vax there.

  “Did we interrupt?” Rose grinned.

  “Can’t you control your mate?” Dezek gave Vax a fierce scowl with the question.

  “Actually, no, not at all,” he answered with a rueful smile and shake of his head. They all laughed and headed for the lounge. In the lounge he found the rest of the women along with Zabyss, Moz, Fazon and Axon. Dezek looked around and decided if the group got any bigger they would need to start meeting in the Hall or at least the large lounge on Seventeen. He watched as breakfast was eaten and a lively conversation was carried on about how long it would be before the rest of the apples were ready to pick. Samantha was apparently ready to make pies. After the dishes were cleared he stood and called everyone to attention. He was actually glad for the extra green faces at the table as this conversation was not easy.

  “We arrived at Saneera this morning. We’re going to land on the planet where they are in the same hour we are to avoid any fatigue issues. I’d like to tell you a little about Saneera and then I have a few rules to go over but I will be allowing all of you disembark,” he explained and saw excitement bloom on everyone’s face.

  “Saneera is a giant world about 10 times the size of earth. Its gravity is just a little bit stronger than Earth’s but it shouldn’t bother you too much. It has beautiful beaches and lush forests. It has two suns and is stationary between the two revolving on its axis but with no moving orbit. There is never a night on the planet which is why its forests are so incredible. This evening we will be staying at one of the hotels in the city we’re visiting. You will be able to see a simultaneous sunrise and sunset as the city turns to see the second sun from the hotel roof restaurant and the balconies,” he explained. “Sienna has let me know that we are in need of baby equipment so Vax and Axon will be directing that hunt. I’ve been told we need furniture, bottles, and fabric for diapers, if you can think of anything else let one of them know and they’ll add to the list.”

  “Now for the rules,” he said and everyone groaned. “We will go places as a group. If necessary we can split into two groups. Each one of you,” he said pointing to the each of the women, “will be accompanied by a male. You are NOT to leave his side for any reason. While Saneera is a much safer place than Katowia, you are still humans and very rare. There are some races that would have no compunction about stealing you and enslaving you or eating you as you have discovered the hard way. I do not want any of you in that situation again. Also each of us will be using camouflage, the gold tone you first saw us in,” continued on. Then he explained the terrible history, civil in-fighting and the consequences of those actions. He saw sadness and compassion in the faces that looked back at him as they came to understand his position and the necessity for the ruse.

  “Does anyone have any questions?” Dezek looked around the room. “Good, we’ll meet in the loading dock on Deck One in two hours.

  ***

  The women arrived at the loading dock a few minutes ahead of schedule. Dezek paired Blanca with Tek, Natalie with Troz, Tabitha with Zorn, Jasmine with Tabyn and Samantha with Nyman for the trip. The other women were paired with their mates with Holly being accompanied by Axon. He wasn’t sure they were mated yet but they spent a great deal of time together. He knew Holly was still sleeping in Axon’s quarters but he didn’t know if anything was going on as Axon had been extremely closed mouthed about it. He took note that Ashaa had chosen to return to her human coloring and Rev had come up with a pair of green lenses to match her finger nails that would hide her metallic gold eyes and slit pupils that could not be camouflaged.

  “Remember no one leaves the side of their paired male. I don’t want anyone to get into trouble,” he told them. He, Fazon and Rev had argued several times over whether to sequester the women on the ship. Fazon doing his job as second protested greatly while Rev had grimly opposed. As head of Security it was Rev’s job to see monsters everywhere. But Dezek held firm, he didn’t want the women to feel as though they were prisoners still or worse yet as slaves. His main concern was whether Tek could keep Blanca in check. To help with security issues Rev had hired a vehicle that was on-call to them only so they wouldn’t wait when they needed to leave.

  Their first destination was a high-end shopping district where Axon and Vax had located several places that would be able to accommodate the baby needs. They spent the morning going through shops and Dezek was extremely surprised when Blanca was the first to find the furniture set for her coming infant. Her choice also surprised him. It was a beautiful but simple design carved from one of the local Saneerian woods that was dark honey color. He wondered how much influence Tek had over her. By lunch time they had found sets for Samantha and Holly, which had been more difficult as the two women had wanted the pair sets to either match or be identical. Holly’s two sets were identical while Samantha had chosen two that were by the same woodworker so while not identical were similar in design and overall appearance. They were also able to pick up most of the other baby items in two of the shops they went into for furniture. Axon had even been able to get several molecular breakdowns on baby formula and a configuration file for the bottle types to load into the dispenser memory in a store that specialized in foods for babies.

  For lunch Rev had made arrangements for them to eat in a trendy restaurant that could put their group in a separate dining room since the group was so large. After lunch they went to another shopping district where Axon and Vax procured most of the items on the list from home. It was during the second shopping outing that Dezek was again surprised by Blanca. While Axon and Vax were filling the orders for fabric and sewing supplies from home, Blanca and Jasmine located several stacks of books from Earth that were apparently informational on technique or contained patterns. Most of the books were thin and less 100 sheets of papers that Blanca told him were called booklets. The women were particularly excited over several that contained a giant talking mouse and his animal friends and ones that contained a large overweight human dressed in red with his stock animals and short workers. He watched as Blanca spoke with Axon for few moments and then the pair approached the shopkeeper while Tek waited with Holly. Dezek nearly laughed as he watched Blanca haggle the shopkeeper down to just a few credits for the entire group of books. According to Axon who would tell him later Blanca had apparently convinced the shopkeeper that since the items were in a Human language known as English if he didn’t sell the items to her he would be stuck with them for the next hundred years. The women were giddy with Blanca’s success after the items were boxed up and sent on their way to the ship in the spaceport.

  “Blanca,” Sienna hugged her, “how in the world did you manage that? What a great find and that you got all of them!”

  “Are you kidding me? I never paid full price for anything at home. On my allowance the only way to afford my wardrobe was to bargain for it,” the teen laughed.

  “Well I was impressed,” Sienna told her.

  By the afternoon’s end they had completed the list from home for this stop and everything the women thought they would need for the babies. Dezek decided they would eat dinner at the seaside hotel they were staying in after Axon, Nyman, Sienna and Ashaa all sent him mental messages that Holly and Samantha were looking a little wilted and needed to rest. After they arrived at the hotel they arranged to eat in one of the restaurants on top of the hotel in few hours giving Holly and Samantha a chance to rest before they ate.

  Sienna looked around the hotel suite she and Dezek entered. It was beautiful and Sienna had to worry how much it was costing him. He had arranged for the couples to stay in separate suites and had put all of the unmated females and males in a multi-room suite. All faced the ocean view.

  “You know you didn’t have to go to all this trouble and expense. We would’ve been happy going back to the ship,” she told him as she slid her arms around his waist. “But thank you.”

  “I wanted to do this. And since we have several more stops to go I thought getting out of the ship would help,”
he kissed the top of her head. “A couple of the stops it won’t be safe enough to take any of you with us. So if I take you along where I can it won’t be as bad when I say no. I hope,” he told her with a laugh.

  “Thank you,” she said as she leaned back to look up at him. “I love the fact that you think about us.”

  “Oh, I think about you quite a bit,” he told and leaned down to kiss her. “Do you need a nap or can I interest you in something a little more active but bed related?” He slid his hands under her shirt to her back. Heat suffused through her.

  “I am definitely interested in a little activity,” she told him sliding her arms around his neck and reaching up to place her lips on his. He lifted her and carried her to the enormous bed in the next room. They spent the next two hours wrapped up in each other. Sienna finally made it out the balcony while Dezek was in the shower. The view was spectacular. There was a pale pink sand beach as far as she could see in either direction. The water was a beautiful cerulean blue. The sky was a shade of blue similar to Earth’s. She could see people of all sorts and shapes walking on the beach and playing in the water. Farther out in the cove there were several types of boats with bright colored sails. Dezek joined her and she smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. Leaning back against him she continued to watch the peaceful scene.

  Dinner was delicious meal of various types of seafood with new vegetables to taste. During the meal they discussed the next day’s activities. As a group they decided to spend the morning on the beach and for the afternoon they would tour one of the forests. Dezek explained that part of the forest was set up similar to a safari park or wild zoo on Earth where they could see the animals and plant life. After dessert everyone returned to their rooms where most spent time on the balcony as they watched the amazing site of the sun setting to the east and the second sun rising in the west. Sienna told Dezek it was one of the most breathtaking scenes she’d ever witnessed. He was thrilled that she enjoyed it so much and the way in which she chose to thank him.