by Rebecca Pond
“Umm… no, not exactly, the Therons are the first aliens… well, first different race that I had ever seen until I arrived here. I saw one of your kind at the shuttle depot when I arrived on the planet’s surface, but I did not get the chance to ask Brylon about it. You see, all the people on my planet are human, though we do come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Where do you come from?”
“I come from Pernmock of course! Just like you come from Earth and Brylon comes from Theron.” Nator seemed to be pleased to have Emma’s attention
Suddenly Emma gave the Pernmock a friendly smile, “I like you Nator. I guess I can call you my first friend here on Theron.”
“I am honored to be called your friend, little Earth female. If you ever need anything please do not hesitate to call on me.”
Brylon didn’t know if it was possible with a Pernmock, but Nator actually appeared to be blushing at Emma’s words. His little mate was going to win over a lot of hearts today in the market.
“Would you like one of the head dressings?” Brylon asked.
Emma realized she was still holding the scarf in her hands, “Oh yes, I would love to have one of these. They are so beautiful and the needle work in the gold thread is incredible.” Her fingers played with the golden design as she spoke.
“Oh my dear, that is not gold thread, but gold filament.” Nator corrected her.
She looked first to Nator then to Brylon then to the material lying in her hands, “You mean this is real gold?” She pointed to what she must have thought had been thread.
“Yes, some of the older women on my planet design the head dressings. To my knowledge, they have always used the gold filament in their designs.”
“Emma, I do not mean to rush you, but if you would like to see most of the market today, we need to be moving along.” Brylon urged her to make her decision.
“I want this one.” She handed the scarf to Nator. He wrapped it up as he waited for Brylon to pay him then handed her the package.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Emma.” Nator bowed to Brylon’s mate as a gesture of respect.
Emma waved as Brylon pulled her away from the tent, “It was nice to meet you, too! Goodbye Nator!”
Together, both of them moved further down the line of tents. Curious stares followed them as they walked by. Hushed whispers could be heard coming from several small groups of individuals. Emma was oblivious to the stares and whispers, because her attention was turned elsewhere. She made sure to get a glance at what each and every tent offered as they passed by, and when something caught her interest, she would pull him inside and examine the merchandise. From most of the tents that she entered, she would leave with some kind of merchandise. He bought her anything and everything that she wanted: jewelry, dresses, head dressings, a blanket.
Hours must have gone by when he asked her, “Are you hungry yet?”
“I am famished. What do they have to eat here?” She had stopped walking and was now looking around the tents to find one that sold food.
“The food area is this way, and once we finish eating we will have to start heading back to the hovercraft.” He guided her towards the food pavilion. The aroma of food was now stirring through the air around them.
The food area was set up in a large circle with tables, chairs, and benches set up near the center. Dozens of Therons, Pernmocks, a couple of human females, and other beings that Emma had never encountered before wandered around or sat at a table eating. Brylon lead her over to several of the stands so that she could get an idea of the choices of food that were offered here. A couple of the choices before her, she flat out refused to try. Whatever it was, it was still moving. The next booth she came across was a bit more to her liking since it reminded her of pizza back on Earth.
“I guess I will try that,” she said as she pointed to the counter in front of her. The food sitting on the counter space smelled very good to her, but looked odd. It was a large slice of the bhakta with what appeared to be vegetables on top covered with the larma she had eaten a ton of on the ship.
“Two orders of the frenbradza, please.” Brylon pulled out enough kryins to pay for their meals and handed it to the vendor.
Trying to balance the food tray and the numerous packages and bags that he was holding, Brylon suggested that they go sit off to the side of the pavilion underneath the canopy of one of the incredibly large trees. Once they were seated they both ate ravenously, barely taking a breath in between bites.
“God, this stuff is so good,” Emma mumbled with a mouth full of her tasty meal.
Brylon wiped his mouth on one of the napkins that were placed on the tray. He swallowed what was in his mouth then asked, “Would you like another piece?”
She nodded her head quickly at the thought of having another piece while she shoved the last remaining bite into her mouth.
“Stay right there and I will get you another piece.” Emma heard Brylon say as she watched him go and get her another piece. There was a line now at the stand, so he had to wait his turn. While she sat under the tree, she viewed the surrounding area. Across the pavilion, Emma caught sight of another Earth female and the Theron man next to her. She assumed this man was the earth female’s mate. She didn’t know the other woman’s name because the only woman she spoke to on the ship was Laura. But, she did recognize this woman from when they were kept in the holding room.
The pair moved about the area looking for somewhere to sit, but it was getting crowded among the tables. As Emma continued to watch, the couple moved closer to where she was sitting alone under the tree and noticed the woman was smiling up at the Theron Warrior who was walking alongside her. As the couple sat to eat, the warrior moved down towards the woman and kissed her tenderly on the lips, lingering on her lips for a moment before releasing them. Emma was amazed to see how the couple interacted together. They looked so happy together like they were meant for each other.
Emma’s eyes searched for Brylon in the sea of people near the vending booths. He stood there waiting patiently for his turn while talking to a fellow warrior who was in line behind him. She watched as he spoke and gestured with his hands, causing the muscles in his arms and torso to ripple under the skin with the movement. Her vision slid further downward to take in the long, lean, muscular legs that were clad in the typical Theron warrior uniform of tight black pants tucked into knee high black boots. She swallowed hard again as the muscles in his legs and butt shifted as he turned in her direction, probably in order to check on her.
Both of the warriors raised a hand to acknowledge her when they saw that she was looking at them. Realizing that she had been caught, yet again, she shyly waved back to Brylon. While she was dropping her hand, a thought crossed her mind. She took her eyes off of the two warriors talking, and looked over to the couple talking near her. Could she have that kind of relationship with Brylon? He obviously wanted her very badly, in every sense of the word. But, could she open herself up enough to let this gentle giant in?
She had never let anyone, much less any man, get too close to her. She didn’t like to date and tried to stay as far away from members of the opposite sex as she possibly could. The closest relationship she ever had in her life formed was with Sammy and Beth. They were the only ones who ever showed that they truly cared about her. She never had the experience of being in a family before she met them.
In foster care she had been switched from home to home so quickly, she was never able to form any kind of bond to any of her foster parents. Right before she entered the foster care system, at the age of four, she understandably didn’t remember much about her life before then. She learned later from her social worker that her mother had claimed that she didn’t know who Emma’s father was and that she sent Emma off to live with a distant aunt when she was about two years old because she wasn’t able to care take care of her baby. About two years after Emma went to live with her aunt, her aunt had suddenly become ill with pneumonia and passed away. Emma was put in foster care unt
il another relative could come and claim her. Her social worker claimed that she tried desperately to place her with another family member, but she couldn’t locate anyone that would be willing to take her in. She looked for Emma’s mother, but her mother had disappeared and was never heard from again. At that point, the only other alternative was to enter her in to the foster care system. From that moment on, her life had been a series of ups and downs, more downs then ups.
What she had wanted more than anything during her time growing up was for someone to love her. How she ached to find a family that would love her forever and not send her away when they grew tired of her. Now, here she was on an alien planet with a magnificent male alien who wanted to make her his mate for the rest of his life. He asked no questions of her and he was willing to take her just as she was. It was actually a hard concept for her to get a handle on, that someone was perfectly willing to love her unconditionally. But, the question was, could she return that love? The only way that she would find out was for her to open her heart to him.
“Here you go, little one.” He handed her one of the two pieces of frenbradza he was holding in his hands, and she quickly took a bite, “I’m happy to see that you have such a good appetite today.” He returned to sitting on the ground next to her and ate another piece as well.
She took a bite of the food while thinking to herself. She wanted to ask Brylon a question, but she felt so nervous and she didn’t want to chicken out, so she blurted it out at once. “Can I ask you something?” She had stopped eating and was looking straight at him.
He looked as if he were caught off guard, “Of course you can. I told you, you can ask me anything you want.”
She pulled away the corner of the bread and placed it onto her tongue, “Do you really want me to be your mate?” She cast her eyes down. As she looked away from him after the words had made their way out into the open. She didn’t want to see the look on his face when he rejected her like the many people before him.
A large warm hand was placed on top of hers, “Emma, look at me.” His stern voice drew her eyes back up to his face. “Why would you ask me that? Haven’t I told you that I want you? Haven’t I tried to show you that I want you? I am not sure what else I can do to make you realize this,” he softly spoke to her. “I wish you would just let me in, so that I can make it clear to you that YOU are unquestionably my mate.”
She felt the knot form in her throat after swallowing the last bite of her food. It felt like the food didn’t want to go down, no matter hard she swallowed. She felt the tears start to accumulate behind her eyelids and threaten to spill over.
Emma cleared her throat a couple of times before she had complete control of her voice, “I want to tell you something Brylon, something that I have been keeping to myself for a very long time now.”
“You can tell me anything. You can trust me. I won’t judge you about anything you have to say.” At this point, Brylon completely stopped eating. He placed his meal aside on the tray and took hold of both of her hands, looking into her eyes before she revealed her secrets to him.
“Umm…I never knew parents. My mom told her family that she did not know who my father was and when I was about two, my mom disappeared. I was sent to live in foster care when I was about four years old, after my aunt passed away and no one else from my family could be found that wanted me. Living in foster care was a nightmare from the beginning. I was placed in so many different homes by the time I was ten. Because of this, I didn’t trust anyone and wouldn’t let myself get close to anyone anymore because every time I did, my social worker would show up and drag me off to yet another home. When I was sixteen I was sent to live with a family who already had four kids that were very young. I wasn’t there long before I truly understood why they wanted me there. I turned out to be a free babysitter for them as well as an extra pay check.” She took a deep breath before continuing, knowing that this was the hardest part of the story for her to tell. “I came home from school one day and my foster father was home early. He usually worked till late so I found it unusual to find him there at that time of day. I went into the kitchen to make myself something to drink and he came into the kitchen and started asking me about how my day went and stuff. He was being really nice for some reason. Before that day, I don’t remember a time that he paid any kind of attention to me, so I thought it was rather odd that he trying to make small talk with me now. As we talked, I noticed that he kept coming closer and closer to me, and he smelled of alcohol. While I was standing in front of the sink, he made his way over to stand in front of me, leaning on the island.” Now her voice was starting to shake with the emotions that she had bottled up for so long. She never told the story with this much detail, and as she spoke it, she could see it happening like it was yesterday. Tears were trailing down her cheeks one at a time, but she pulled herself together and continued on, “He…he stepped closer to me until he had my back pinned up against the sink. Umm…umm…he went to grab my breast, and I tried to knock his hand away and I asked him what the hell was wrong with him. Then he said in this really creepy voice, ‘You know you want it,’ and then he snatched me to him, pressing his body against mine as he tried to force his tongue down my throat. I struggled to get away, but he was just so much stronger than I was. One of his hands tore open the front of my shirt and started to squeeze my breast so hard that I screamed. He laughed into my mouth while he was doing his best to get his hand under my bra. My arms were pinned against his chest, so the only thing I was able to do was stomp on his foot, which I did as hard as I could manage. He stopped what he was doing for a second when he was hit by the pain then slapped me real hard across the face. We struggled back and forth for a bit until, I guess, he…umm…I guess he was tired of fighting me. I don’t think he realized how hard I would fight to keep him off of me. Next thing I know, he twisted my right arm behind my back until I heard this sickening crack. Luckily, at this point his wife happened to walk into the kitchen and she caught him in the act of trying to rape me. He tried to put the blame on me, telling her that it was entirely my fault, and that I came on to him first. His wife didn’t seem to believe a word he said. She picked up the phone and immediately called the police and had him arrested.”
Brylon looked shocked and angry as he asked, “What did the police do?”
“At first, they brought me to the hospital where it was determined by x-ray that he had broken my arm in two places, at the elbow and the wrist. I pretty much knew what was going to happen at that point and sure enough, an hour later my social worker came strolling into the emergency room to take custody of me. After that, I was placed in a group home for almost a year. The next home I was placed in was where I stayed in until I turned eighteen. The couple I lived with was an old couple, and they depended on me for their care and the small check they earned from the state. The day I turned eighteen, I left their house and never looked back.” The recollection of strength and pride of surviving on her own for six years after started to show on her face. But, no matter how well she did on her own, there was always a sort of emptiness. She felt Brylon give her hand a squeeze. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to look up and see the expression of pity on his face. The last thing she needed right now was his pity. What didn’t kill her during her disappointing childhood, made her into the strong woman that sat before him this day.
“Oh my little Earth mate, I am so sorry for the life that you had to suffer through.” The serious tone in his voice made her look up at him. She was totally surprised with the look in his eyes. His eyes that were normally copper with flecks of gold were now completely gold. She had never seen his eyes look like this before, even when she had made him angry with her for trying to escape through the ventilation shafts on the ship. “If I could, I would kill the bastard for you, I would. He had absolutely no right to take advantage of a younger female. Gods, I feel the urge to go back to Earth right now and kill him!” He let go of one of her hands and ran his fingers through his short cropped
hair. He looked as if he was struggling to control the anger that was brewing from the deepest part of his soul.
“Emma, I want you to know that he will never hurt you again. No one will ever hurt you again. I made a vow that I would protect you with my life if necessary when I first looked into your eyes. I want to make you happy and spend the rest of my life doing so. You were meant to be with me, and I was meant to be with you. I will never force you to do anything that you do not want to do. You are so very important to me. I want you to understand that I will cherish you forever.” His eyes were slowly changing back to their normal color of copper as the anger had left his voice and body. She could tell that he was speaking the truth to her. Something deep inside told her that he had never lied to her about his feeling for her and never would.
“Do you really mean that Brylon?” Her voice shook with emotion as some of the pieces of the wall she built around her heart began to crumble and fall down.
Brylon reached for her face then held it in his hand, his thumb softly running across her bottom lip, “I meant everything I said. Are you ready to go home now?”
She sniffled, wiped her nose with her sleeve and then said, “Oh no, you promised I could find Nana a friend.”
He laughed and said, “Ok, let’s go find Nana a friend then we will head home. It has been a long day.”
Leaving the food area, the two of them started the long walk back to the vehicle. Emma kept her eyes peeled for a tent selling the furry little rewas. She was excited about getting another one. Nana sometimes looked so sad when she didn’t have anyone to play with.
Emma was searching the stands around her when Brylon tugged on her hand then said, “Over there, my love.” He pointed in the direction of a brightly colored tent that was surrounded by people and aliens alike. She seized his hand in an iron clad grip and literally dragged him to the tent.