by Rebecca Pond
He laid her down on the bed and covered her body with his. He ran his tongue over her lips, tasting her, and when her lips parted for the tiniest of seconds, his tongue darted inside the warmth of her mouth. He deepened their kiss as much as he could until even that wasn’t good enough any longer, he desired more.
“Gods Emma, I want you so much.” He had pulled back a fraction of an inch so that he could see her face when he told her that. Her eyes were wide with uncertainty as he watched her listen to what he said to her. At that moment it seemed that her senses came flooding back to her.
“Brylon, I…umm…”
Brylon had felt her stop moving as she struggled with something she wanted to tell him. He looked into her eyes, “What is it my love?”
Emma bit her bottom lip. She looked to be very anxious, trying to find the words that were eluding her at the moment. She looked away from his eyes as she spoke, “I…umm… I have never…” she just couldn’t get the words out and she started to blush as if she were experiencing embarrassment.
It slowly dawned on Brylon what Emma was trying to tell him. A sexy as hell smile spread across his face before he said in a deep husky voice, “Oh my love, you needn’t say it. I understand what you are trying to tell me. But, as much as I want to take you right now, I think we should wait until we are on Theron.” He leaned down again and captured her lips in his. He needed to remove himself from the room now, if he planned on keeping his promise. “You need to rest and I need to see to the rest of the ship’s repairs to make her ready for our journey. It will not take that much longer for us to arrive at Theron. A few hours and we should be there. You look well enough for me to leave you alone, so I want you to rest for a bit.” He kissed her lips quickly once again then rolled his body off of hers.
“Will you be alright until I can return for you?” He looked embarrassed to be asking her this, but she smiled at him for the first time.
“I will be fine. I think I am feeling a little better. The pain in my head has gone away somewhat, but I think I will take a nap.” She was still smiling at him as he pulled the covers up over her shoulder. “Besides, I have Nana to keep me company.”
He lightly stroked the side of her face, “Good, I am happy to hear that. I will return for you when the ship has arrived at Theron.”
“Wait, I want to ask you one more question before you leave.” He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her with his hands firmly on the door frame, “How old are you?” she asked.
Brylon had been waiting for her to ask him that question. Zeb had told him the story about when Avery asked Zeb how old he was along with the response she had given him when he told her. “I am one hundred and twenty five Theron years old.” He got the reaction he had been waiting for. Those beautiful green eyes widened until he thought they were going to pop right out of her head, and her mouth dropped open without a sound. “Would you like to know what that translates into Earth years?” She nodded her head in response and waited.
“Well, if I had been born on your planet, I would be about four hundred years old. I am quite an old man by your Earth standards, but I’m considered to be young on Theron.” He was going to leave her with that thought and not say another word. It would give her something to think and wonder about.
Brylon left the room with a good feeling swarming through his chest. She had finally smiled at him and returned his kiss. Damn, bad timing though. He had to leave her yet again to see to the ship, but thankfully it wouldn’t be too much longer before they would all be home. He couldn’t wait to show her his home. He knew she would love it just by watching the expressions on her face as he described it to her. Plus, he would have to somehow explain to her how he and the rest of Theron’s population aged. On Earth, most humans only lived to be about eighty years old. A far cry from his current age which when compared to life stage on earth would be equivalent to her 24 years.
He walked onto the command center still lost in his own thoughts and almost ran into Zeb. The commander grabbed him by the shoulders, laughing. “You okay there my friend? You seem a bit out of it. More trouble with Emma?” Zeb released Brylon and watched as he snapped out of the daze he had been in.
Brylon’s eyes were dancing as he said to Zeb, “Just the opposite. I think everything may be on its way to improving. Let’s get this ship home so that I can find out.”
Zeb tilted his head back and let out a deep hearty laugh, “At your command, Engineer. Just give the order.” Zeb stepped aside to let Brylon move in closer to the railing that faced the huge window looking out into space.
“Ceran, bring the ship about and move her forward. Proceed as normal.” Brylon and Zeb stood next to each other as the ship began to continue its journey home.
Traveling through the next two worm holes occurred without incident. The Pernmocks volunteered to accompany them to Theron just in case the Drylons had prepared any other surprise attacks on the journey home. The rest of the trip took less than twelve hours and when Brylon saw the first image of his home planet Theron come into view through the large window in front of him, he heard the entire command center simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. It had been far too long since any of them had seen their home. From a distance the planet looked much like it did when they left it two years ago, spinning on her axis with colors of blue, yellow, lavender, and green, while there were numerous white clouds that swirled above the surface in the planet’s atmosphere. It was a beautiful sight to see as the ship moved closer to the planet and the space station where they were assigned to dock.
The space station was a fully manned docking station. It orbited the planet, keeping a watchful eye for any signs of potential threats to the planet. The Therons had built the station shortly after driving the Drylons away and reclaiming their planet. The mother ship would have to dock on one of the station bays, because she was much too large to land on the surface of the planet. From the station they would take shuttles down to the surface and would drive themselves to the apartments on the home base, or in the case of officers, they would go to their homes in one of the many sectors that surrounded the home base.
“Ceran, bring the ship around to meet the station on the port side.” Zeb directed his fourth in command. The ship flew past the station then made a wide turn in order to ease the left side of the mother ship into contact with the docking bay assigned to them. “Alright Ceran, ease her on in.” The ship slid right into the awaiting docking bay without any problems. Right behind them, the Pernmocks had eased several of their ships into the other available docking bays. The mother ship finally came to a stop as the lights on Ceran’s workstation showed that the pressure in the tunnel connecting the ship to the space station had equalized.
“Warriors, we are home!” Zeb announced to the entire command center. “Brylon, I need you to double check to see if the connection to the space station is secure. Ceran, go ahead prepare the computer for zone disembarkation.”
“Yes sir, Commander.” Brylon and Ceran quickly took care of their assigned tasks and then passed the control of the ship over to the personnel of the space station that would oversee the disembarkation process to get the many members of the ship’s crew and support staff safely down to the surface of Theron. Once everyone was off the ship, they would take care of the ship while it was out of commission for repairs.
Brylon went into Zeb’s office where he was gathering a few of his belongings, “I am out of here, commander. How much longer are you going to be?”
“Not much longer. I just want to get a few of my things before I go collect Avery and take her home. You better go and see to Emma. I am betting that she will be anxious to get off the ship.” He walked over to Brylon and grabbed hold of his hand and gave it a few hard shakes, “Thank you my friend for all that you have done on this mission. I must say that it was quite a success.”
“You’re welcome, Commander, and I will agree that the mission went well. Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to get back to my mate.
I’ll see you later on the surface.” Brylon nodded his head at Zeb and left the room. His was beyond excited to be getting off the ship. He wanted to get Emma down to the surface and settled into their house as soon as possible.
Chapter 8
Emma was standing by the window that faced the planet with Nana purring in her arms. She had awoken earlier to find that the ship was closing in on some sort of space station that orbited around the huge multi-colored planet. The view was exquisite and had drawn her in like a fly to honey. It was the most spectacular sight she had ever seen in her life. She could honestly say that it even topped the sight of her planet Earth when she looked out the same window just a couple of days ago. It was surreal to be able to see a new world up close and personal and not in a photograph from a magazine. She had been standing by the window for some time now, looking out, when she heard the swooshing sound of the door as it slid open. She turned to see her warrior stride into the room through the door with an incredibly huge smile on his face.
“Emma, my love. Are you ready to leave?” He was obviously excited to be home, but when he looked at her face he withdrew from her a bit with a look of concern in his eyes, “Are you alright? Is there something wrong?”
“No, nothing is wrong. Its…it’s just so beautiful. I never thought your planet would be so beautiful. It almost feels like I am in a dream standing here looking out at a foreign world. There are so many more colors swirling around your planet than there is on Earth.” She looked up at him as she spoke then turned her head again to take in more of the view through the big window.
She saw a look of relief cover his face as he stood behind her and took her and Nana in his arms. “We can stay here if you would like, but I would much rather take you down to the surface now.”
She looked up and said, “You mean now? We are going to go down now?” The tone of her voice went up a few notches with each question. “What about Nana? Can I bring her with me?”
He laughed, “Yes, we can go down now. And, yes, you can bring Nana with you. I’ll come back later and gather the rest of your things and bring them back to our house. But, for now I just want to get you off this ship.” He turned her to face him as he leaned forward and softly brushed his lips against hers.
Her lips felt like they were on fire every time Brylon gave her a kiss. She didn’t really know where that feeling was coming from, but she was beginning to look forward to it. “Okay then, let’s go.”
Emma positioned Nana into her arms and tucked her close to her body. Brylon then lead them out of their quarters and down the long corridor until they came to the transportation tubes. Emma immediately started to panic at the thought of getting into the tubes again because she really hadn’t cared for it much the first time she traveled this way. “Do we really have to take this thing?” she asked with a quiver in her voice.
He must have seen the apprehension in her eyes, because he said to her, “Sorry, Love, this is our only choice at the moment. I promise you that it won’t be as bad as the first time and it will be quick. It is just entirely too far to walk to where we have to go to get to the shuttles.” Just as soon as he finished saying that, a tube came to rest behind the glass door. The door slid open, beckoning for them to step in.
Brylon immediately stepped into the tube and stretched out his hand for her to join him. She took a deep breath before she moved towards him into the tube. “What about Nana?” She was worried her little pet would fly out of her hand as the tube shot off or would feel the same discomfort she did the first time she was in the tubes. She was afraid that Nana would be traumatized or worse, injured.
“Put both of your hands around her body then bring your hands up between us and lean into me. I will wrap my arms around the both of you.” He smiled as he watched her carefully maneuver Nana into both her hands then lean forward into him. The top of her head rested on his chest and he could smell the scent of her shampoo. He could also smell the natural scent of her body. He had never paid much attention to it until this moment, but it was a scent that was ingrained in his mind forever. Her scent was about the same as the sweet smell of the Jalo flower that was found on his planet.
“Ready,” he asked her. He felt as she nodded her head, and then he gave the destination to the computer, “docking bay twelve.” The transport tube shot off without warning causing Emma to squeal. As she pressed herself as close to his body as she could, he could feel a stirring in the lower portion of his body. Good Gods, he thought to himself, please don’t let her feel that. The tube continued on its journey until it began to slow near its destination. Just before the tube came to a complete stop, Brylon could feel Emma trembling in his arms.
“We are here, little one. The ride is over. There is no need to be so scared.” He placed his hands gently on her upper arms and edged her away from him, but the sight that confronted him was not what he had expected.
She wasn’t trembling with fear as he had assumed, but rather she was trying to contain a fit of giggles that threatened to escape from her lips. She had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him and said, “I felt something a little odd and hard pressing into my stomach and it wasn’t Nana!” The giggle finally managed to escape her lips. The sound of it was so sweet and melodious to his ears. It was a sound he hadn’t yet heard from her yet and he had to admit that he was so happy to finally have heard it.
“I am sorry,” she continued to giggle while wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.
The only thing he could do at this point was join in, “There is nothing to be sorry for. My body knows what it wants and it wants you, my love.” His laugh was deep and filled with desire which caused her to blush at his words. “Come on. Let’s get moving before we miss the next shuttle.” He placed his hand on her lower back and guided her in the direction of the shuttle bay.
The shuttle bay was a bustle of activity, with shuttles coming and going with the transport of the crew, warriors, and their mates down to the surface. They made their way to the nearest of the awaiting shuttles and stepped aboard. The inside of the shuttle was about half filled with a mixture of warriors, odd alien species that she had never encountered before, and crew. Brylon led her to a seat next to one of the windows and had her strap herself in. He buckled in next to her and reached for her hand. They waited until the shuttle was full, and everyone was secured in their seats. Emma happened to glance back and saw a familiar face board the ship.
“Laura!” She waved to her friend who was moving towards her with Ceran.
“Emma, I am so happy to see you. How’s the head?” Laura stopped next to the seat that Brylon was sitting in.
“Still tender. Did you get a look at the planet out the window before you left? Isn’t it beautiful?” Emma spoke so quickly Brylon was surprised at her excitement.
Laura gave her a huge smile, “Oh my God, YES! Ceran had to pull me away from the window. I have never seen anything to compare with it in my life. It’s absolutely amazing!”
Emma glanced at the warrior that was standing behind Laura, “Is this your mate?” she smiled at Ceran and asked him, “Ceran, right?”
Laura looked back over her shoulder and glanced at her mate, “Yep, that’s him. Ceran, this is Emma, the girl I told you so much about.”
Emma swallowed nervously as the eyes of the huge warrior swung her way. She had no idea what her friend may have told Ceran about herself so the only thing she could do was give him a smile and say hello.
Ceran’s royal blue eyes surprisingly twinkled at her when he said, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Emma. Laura, we must take our seats now. The shuttle is ready to take off.” He edged his mate forward with slight pressure of his hand on her back.
Laura called back before she sat, “We’ll talk soon. I’ll have Ceran bring me over to your house as soon as we can manage,” said Laura then sat out of Emma’s view.
Emma turned her attention back to Brylon, “How long does it take to reach the surface?”
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�It only takes about fifteen minutes, not long,” he replied. “It takes longer to board the shuttle than it does to fly it to the surface.”
She turned her gaze out the window as the shuttle began its descent. Moments later the shuttle was flying in Theron’s orbit. Closer and closer the shuttle came through the outer layer of the atmosphere, giving the shuttle a jolt before smoothly sailing the rest of the way down. Approaching the landing strip, Emma could hear the voice of the pilot asking for permission to land.
“Theron station 6-2-4 this shuttle twelve requesting clearance for landing.” A crack of static came back in reply before a voice boomed loud and clear, “Shuttle twelve you are clear to land at station 6-2-4 on the north side. Proceed with caution.”
The shuttle landed without incident and the doors immediately opened to let out its precious cargo. Emma and Brylon made their way out the shuttle and into the station that was filled with warriors and crew that were excited to be home.
Brylon guided Emma through a set of double doors into what appeared to be some kind of parking garage. She looked around her, not believing what she was seeing. When she saw a strange being that stood over nine feet tall with four arms, four eyes, the sharpest set of white canine teeth she had ever seen, and had skin a sickly pallor with a light green tinge, she wanted to stop dead in her tracks. Brylon must have felt her hesitate when she saw this odd being close to her. He stopped and followed the direction of her stare and chuckled, “That is a Pernmock. They saved our asses when the Drylons attacked us on our journey here. They are our friends and allies so don’t be frightened of them.”
She continued to stare as she replied, “I’m not scared. I’m just speechless, is all. I’ve never seen anything like him.” She continued to follow along as he gently tugged on her hand.