Joaquin had been named after his mother and her people because according to her they weren’t all bad just the military that got greedy and went after other planets’ treasures.
His mother came in the room. He took in her tall, willowy frame, the beautiful silver hair and eyes that she passed to him. They were a sign of her people. When he was younger, he tried to picture a planet full of people like him, silver hair and eyes. Then he understood that it was wrong, they were murderers, savages. They killed his father’s people. His mother was a Sudir and this clandestine meeting she was having with his father was illegal.
What’s wrong with you, he wanted to holler but instead stayed quiet wanting to see what came next. It was like watching a train wreck; you were so stunned that there was nothing you could do.
His dad went to greet his mom taking her in his arms and kissing her passionately. He averted his eyes because who wanted to see parents kiss? Then he peeked out the corner of his eyes because knowing that his parents loved each other was doing something to his heart.
“Quay, Come, sit down and eat.”
Quay was what his dad liked to call his mom; it meant love in the Sudir language. He remembered when his dad sat with him and told him that his mom's parents were the smartest he ever met.
“Genar, you could get in trouble for this.” She took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the food.
Joaquin took a good look at her. She was thin, the thinnest he had ever seen his mother and her silver eyes were dull. His mom was starving, and he wanted to rail at his father for letting her go hungry.
“They’ll kill you if they catch you.” Her hand went up to his face tracing his lips.
“Then I’ll die knowing I fed the female I love. Sit, eat.”
She sat down and ate the food. She was Ms. Manners, had always been as she taught Joaquin how to blend in. Not only with the Arbrin/Matra’s but with the humans.
“You’re special, Joaquin.” He could hear her voice saying to him when he still wasn’t tall enough to climb the trees or bring the meat home. “One day you will be able to blend with anyone on your planet. Use your skill with intelligence.”
She sat at the table and ate like a proper female, while his father supervised every bite she took. Joaquin could see the desperation on his father’s face. He wanted the food in her; it was driving him crazy that she was hungry.
When his mom was finished eating, his dad cleaned up, and they moved to the corner where he had a thick pallet laid on the floor. They sat down and started talking.
“They’re sending me to another planet with some of the most important young males on our planet.” He pulled out a small square and enlarged it enough to show her the star system he was going to.
“It’s not going to be an easy transfer and from my calculations, it will take over fifty years our time. Can you stand being alone that long?”
“What?”
“Can you endure being on a ship by yourself for that long?”
“What are you talking about, Genar? You know I can’t leave the planet, it's against the law.”
“It’s also against the law for me to love you, but I don’t care. Can you do it, Quay? We’ll go to the trials before we leave, that way you’ll be able to talk to me over the years.”
“I…This is sudden.”
He nodded with understanding.
“It means giving it all up.” She was waiting for everything to restore itself. For the Arbrins and Matra’s to un-fuse and for them to become friends again with the Sudir. Their life had been good once; all three of them friends and then the military spotted something on Matranian, the Arbins and Matra’s planet that they had to have.
That’s when the war started, and everything changed. Except in the midst of war, she fell for Genar. That’s how she learned the rumor of their past friendship was true, and she also learned that the Arbrin/Matra had suffered much, but not all of them were bitter.
She leaned over and kissed him. Their were so many hybrids between the Sudirs and the Arbrin/Matra’s that you would think continuing the war would be a joke, but the Sudir military killed hybrid’s on sight and if you were accused of fraternizing with the enemy you were killed. There was no due process of the law. If she said yes to Genar; she would live the rest of her life knowing that she could die at any moment.
Her hand went to the side of his face as she traced his cheekbones. They were so high they always fascinated her.
“Yes.”
He kissed her his tongue dipping into her mouth moving passionately over her tongue. She loved him and the wonderful response he made her body feel.
“One day,” he whispered to her.
Joaquin turned his head as he felt the presence of another. Voyager still his in father’s body came to sit beside him.
They both turned to focus on the couple in front of them.
“One day,” his father said, “we will have children.”
“A boy and a girl,” his mother said.
“The boy will look like you.”
“Why me? “Boys like to look like their fathers, besides I think the girl will want to look like me.
“She’ll look like you too.”
“What will we name the boy?”
“You can pick the name as long as it has Quin in it,” his father told his mother.
Quin was the male word for love on the Sudir planet.
“Because we will love him?”
“Yes,” his dad bent over to kiss his mother.
“Let’s call him Joaquin,” his mother said.
“Mine to love,” his father translated the name. “Our first son, I can already see him. He looks like you on the outside and me on the inside. I already love him.”
“He’s stubborn just like you, that’s what I see,” she pushed at his arm laughing.
“Stubbornness is a good thing. Let’s see what mine can get me into.” He started pulling off her clothes.
“I’m going to go blind over here,” Joaquin said loudly. “Are you going to torture me by making me watch my parent have sex? I’ll be scarred for life.
Voyager laughed, “Your dad was and is right about you.”
He took them from the room allowing the couple to come together in a blaze of passion.
Joaquin woke up to find himself on a park bench; at least he wasn’t in another cell. Voyager was gone, not that he expected that male to hang around. There was something about Voyager that was familiar like he knew him but he couldn’t put it together.
He stood up and stretched his body before he began to explore. The bench was along the river. He was in a city; the tall buildings that were overshadowing him gave it away. He was also on Earth; he didn’t know how he felt about that. It would have been nice to have some time to explore the planet his father came from. That was his one glimpse of it. His dad used to tell him that his planet was so much brighter than Earth. He hadn’t been able to picture it, but now he could see the red grass and the pink skies.
He was walking close to a set of train tracks that were following the river. It wasn’t nice down here. It was dirty where the homeless slept. He may have stuck his nose up in the air at the thought, but there was a time in his life when he was homeless.
His heart went out when he saw people living in this condition, then he saw a flame. Just a small one before it went out but it made his heart kick in his chest. He approached cautiously not knowing what he would find. Grace was lying on an old mattress. She looked like she had been here for years. Her hair was ragged, and her body looked like she was a skeleton.
Grace, his Grace. How could this happen?
“Grace?” He whispered her name as he crouched down beside her. She didn’t move making his heart seize.
“Please, Baby, open your eyes.” His hand went to shake her shoulder.
A small flame crawled over her body, the only indication that she wasn’t dead. He scooped her up holding her against his chest as he started to walk. He stopped i
n front of a high-rise condo in the downtown area. In his real life, he had an apartment here. The doorman, Charlie, recognized him and opened the door. He prayed that he still had an apartment here as he stepped on the elevator. As the doors closed, he came to the realization that he understood how his dad felt when he realized the woman he loved didn’t have food to eat.
Chapter Eight
The door opened for Joaquin like he was expected and he didn’t question it. The only thing that was important now was taking care of Grace. He wanted to feed her, but she still hadn’t opened her eyes. He could tuck her into bed and allow her to sleep, but would that do her good when her body was dirty or would it simply cause her distress. In the end, he laid her on the guest bed and went into the bathroom and ran a tub of scented water for her.
It was crazy he knew, but he always kept a honeysuckle scent in all his bathrooms. It was one of the wild plants that his mom had loved when she was alive. He always thought that if she had made it she would love the bath gels and the soaps that smelled like her favorite plant. It had been years since he last thought about the reason he kept that particular item around. It was also the one scent that any female he brought to his home was unable to use and the only scent he wanted to smell on Grace. Honeysuckle reminded him of love.
He went back to Grace. She was huddled up like she was cold.
“Baby, I’m going to get these dirty clothes off of you and then I’m going to put you in a tub of nice hot water. Don’t worry, I’ll be right there washing you up and making sure you don’t slip under the water. After that, I’m going to take you to the master bedroom and get you nice and warm under the covers. Don’t fret, Grace, I’ll take care of you.”
He took her clothes off noticing how thin she was. He wanted to shake with anger, hurt someone, but taking care of Grace was too important to do anything else. He picked her up and took her through the master bedroom to the ensuite. Carefully he lowered her into the tub. The water was warm without being too hot. A sigh of contentment left her lips as the water cocooned her.
He took a sponge and poured some bath gel on it and started washing. She opened her eyes when he had one leg lifted washing her foot.
“That tickles.”
He almost dropped her leg so surprised to hear her voice.
“Grace?” He looked up to see her looking at him.
“Do I know you? Joaquin?” She squinted her eyes like she was having problems bringing him into focus. “I know you, but everything’s a little fuzzy.”
“That’s okay, Grace. All I’m doing is taking care of you. You were lying on a mattress under the train tracks.”
“When the flame gives me back my body it allows me to go there to sleep.”
“Does it take control a lot?”
“Yes.”
“Is it still killing? Feeding itself?”
“No, were dying. I refuse to allow it to use me to kill anymore. So we found this river, it's so contaminated I’m not sure why the humans aren’t dead.”
“You’re human, Grace, just cursed.”
“I know. We go to the river every day and work on cleaning it up, purifying it. I think we can get it all done before we die.”
“Do you want to die, Grace?”
“No, but I don’t want to be a killer either.”
He finished washing her in silence then brought a large towel over to wrap her in. She snuggled in his arms while he took her to the bedroom. He found an oversized shirt for her to put on.
“You have to eat, Grace; you’re too thin.”
“All right.” She was docile; she didn’t have the strength to disagree.
He picked her up and took her to the kitchen sitting her in a chair before pulling out pots and pans.
“You can cook?”
“My mother always said, Quin, everyone should know how to cook if they want to eat.”
“I met your mother; she’s nice.”
“What?” He almost dropped the pot he was holding when she said that. How could she meet his mother? Was it Voyager playing tricks with her?
“Remember when you found me playing Jacks?” He nodded.
“I had been playing with your mom. She left right before you and Voyager turned the corner.”
“Maybe it wasn’t my real mother.”
“There’s no doubt about it. You’re the spitting imagine of her. She wanted me to tell you she loved you. Right before she left as she was shimmering out of sight, she saw you. She whispered Joaquin, mine to love.”
He felt his knees go weak and took a seat on the chair across from her.
“Can I tell you something?” She nodded her head.
“I miss them; I miss both of them. I was so angry at them for leaving me, for making me what I am.”
“What are you, Joaquin?”
“From my dad, I am Arbrin/Matra. He was one of the originals. One of the ones that were fused together, not born like that. As I got older, I thought maybe he was bitter or mad. I figured he must hate all things Sudir. I wondered if my mother had somehow tricked my dad into loving her, taking care of her on this foreign planet. My mom, she’s a Sudir. Not the abominations you see in this world.
“The ones you see here are almost all military. They allowed their greed to get the better of them and tried to take a planet that didn’t belong to them. They are the reason the Arbrin and Matra are now one instead of two separate entities. I was wrong, Grace, he loved her; they loved each other long before they came to Earth.”
He stood up and went back to the stove cooking her a meal to eat.
“What’s this,” she asked looking at the food.
“Baby food. This is cream of wheat, and this is applesauce. I’ve watched countless humans feed it to their small children when they first learn to eat solids. It will fill you up but hopefully, won’t be too heavy for your stomach and make you sick.”
It wasn’t the meat and potatoes or the pasta she had been dreaming about, but it was food. She took a small bite and then another.
“Maybe I’m worse off than I thought, but this is good.”
He gave her a glass of water and watched her eat, with every bite she took he felt better until she ate it all.
“Do you want seconds?”
“I’m stuffed. I want to lie down.”
He nodded and picked her up taking her back to his bedroom. He tucked her gently under the covers and stood about to leave.
“Will you stay with me?”
He took off his shirt and climbed into the bed with her. Her fire kissed his skin like it was welcoming him and then she rolled into his arms and did a little move that made him hard as a rock before she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
*~*~*~*
“I could kill him.” The voice was masculine and deep, the kind that would have given the couple in the bed nightmares if they could have heard it.
“I know.” Voyager sat crossed legged floating in the air.
“Aren’t you going to plead his case?”
“Do I need to? You are the one that passed his mother and father when they came to the trials.”
“How was I supposed to know that the Sudir would one-day blow apart Matranian?” The Trialx ask his voice deeply troubled.
“You were not to know; that is not your gift.”
“If they had all died what would have happened to me, to the trials?”
“I think the question you should be asking is why didn’t they all die.”
Before them, a vision of space stretched out. It was wide and black, not a star or a planet around to give off light. The area surrounding them wasn’t empty they were coming up to an area of space that was surrounded by a void. A void that most space travelers avoided because it led to a region of space that belonged to The Darkness. If you entered the void, you were either immediately recruited or immediately killed. There was no other alternative.
The best and brightest minds the Matranians had to offer were all on that ship and most of them under the
age of three except for a few. One of those exceptions was the next ruler of Matranian; without him his people would be lost.
Following behind the ship but far enough away not to be detected was a Sudir. Within the hold of the ship were five Sudir couples because like the Matranians she didn’t want to take a chance her race would die. She would release them when they got to Earth but for now, she flew alone in the silence of space. She spoke with her soul-bonded every day and did deep range exploration. It was what she had done before her life had been turned upside down.
The probe she sent out to explore the space before them showed her a large void. It shouldn’t have been a problem to miss, but this void was actively searching for vessels in its vicinity. The small probe sent her back pictures reminding her of rumors she heard in the past. They were unconfirmed, but everyone knew them, and this was the area of space they spoke off.
She pulled out her maps and the equipment she was able to smuggle aboard the ship and began going through it. The Darkness ruled this corner of space, and it wanted something that was located on a small planet in the middle of nowhere, which was exactly where they were headed.
That night when she spoke to her soul-bonded, she warned him. He went straight to the captain who told him there was no danger. She continued to monitor the probe and warn Genar until her probe was sucked into the void. What she saw haunted her. It took days before she was able to re-establish a connection with her soul-bond.
She sent him one last message. “Genar, if you don’t change course,” then she provided him with the new coordinates. “You and all of your charges will be pulled into the void, and you will die. Not one Arbrin/Matra will survive, and I will die. There is no need to live if you’re not around.”
She cut her connection and went to sleep. There was no way she could suffer his death. A soul-bond shouldn’t be asked to do that. She would know in the morning if he was alive or dead.
She woke up the next morning to hear a message playing on a loop in her mind. “You really know how to get your point across.”
“The captain called it mutiny but since I saved the lives of everyone on the ship he has no other choice than to let it go. He took credit for it, though. Everyone is calling him a hero. How did he know that the void was such a dangerous place? You save us, my love.”
Joaquin's Saving Grace (Alien Mates Book Five 5) Page 5