She squirmed in his arms and when they loosened, she laid her head upon his shirt clad chest and her hand on his heart. She could once again feel that warm presence in her mind, just hovering there. She could feel his desire, but she could also feel his contentment to just hold her, safe in his arms.
A contented silence came between them, just lying there with each other.
Natalie rubbed his chest and said, “You know, I didn’t know about the whole mate thing at first, even though I felt connected to you. But then you were avoiding me and I could literally feel my soul weeping for you. I thought you didn’t want me anymore.” She gave a small laugh as he sputtered. “No, no, Tali explained that you were giving me time. I do appreciate it, but it didn’t stop it from hurting.”
She went quiet, a little shy at what she was going to say next.
Clearing her throat, she went for it.
“But, um, maybe we could give it a try? You know, get to know each other, maybe make this work? If you’re interested?”
Natalie had barely gotten the last word out before Taavi moved.
He shoved her onto her back, fisting his fingers in her hair.
Looking deeply into her eyes he rasped, “I will always be willing to make this work. Whatever you need, alaila, all you have to do is ask. You need time? You got it. You want me? You got it. I’ll be by your side, waiting for you, always.”
He brushed his nose gently against her before taking her lips in a soft kiss.
He teased her lips, brushing his across hers with the lightest of pressures. He then ran his tongue around her lips, lifting his head slightly when she tried to deepen the kiss.
She huffed in frustration, gritting out, “Dang it, Taavi. Make a move al-,” before he swooped in and gave her a real kiss. A kiss born of his fear of her brush with danger, his anger at not being there for her, his passion for his mate, and his absolute bliss at holding her this way.
He devoured her mouth, biting her lips, and she gave as good as she got.
Pulling his head closer, she nipped his lips, shoved her hands under his shirt and scratched her nails down his back, and when he gasped, she took over the kiss.
They fought for dominance, heaving against each other in a primal dance of lust. His hips fell between her thighs and she could feel his hardness as he thrust against her.
She moaned low in her throat, feeling a heady sense of wonderment. She could tell she was wet and on the verge of an orgasm before he pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers.
She whimpered, still lost in the sensations of that wonderful kiss. She wanted more, but would settle for this… for now.
He lay back, dragging her against him once more. He brushed his hand over her head, kissing her hair.
“Sleep, alaila. I’ll keep you safe tonight.”
~ ~ ~ ~
She walked down the darkened street, aware that there was someone in the shadows, watching her. She kept looking forward, not letting on that she knew he was watching. It was so quiet, only the sound of her footsteps echoing on the pavement. She slowed as she walked past an alley, peeking around the corner before crossing the mouth.
“Natalie! Help!”
She whipped around; sure that was Kayla’s voice.
“Please, Natalie! Where are you?” Kayla sounded scared.
Natalie took off running in the direction her voice had come. She rounded a corner, ready to fight, but no one was there. She looked around in confusion; positive this had been where she heard Kayla.
“Natalie! Kayla, run!” was roared from around yet another corner. Just like she had been sure it was Kayla, she was certain that was Ben’s voice.
She frantically ran toward the sounds of fighting, hoping she made it in time. She turned the corner only to screech to a halt at what greeted her.
Ben and Kayla were surrounded by dark figures. They had no discernable faces and were shrouded in darkness. She watched in horror as first Ben and then Kayla were struck down. Both of their eyes were open in death, their hands reaching out to her for help.
The shrouded figures turned their attention to her, their hands reaching out to grasp her. The one closest to her grabbed her shirt; shaking her so hard her head snapped back and she bit her tongue.
He lifted her off the ground, her legs kicking and flailing in the air. She caught a glimpse of familiar pale eyes, shark eyes.
She swished the blood in her mouth around and spit it into his face, dropping to the ground as he rubbed his face.
She spun, ready to run for her life, but she ran into a figure behind her.
She screamed, thrashing, trying to get away from the cruel hands that gripped too tightly. It was no use; she couldn’t break free. She looked up, ready to fight, when in the shrouded face she saw a pair of glowing green eyes.
She paused, certain she knew those eyes.
The figure shook her and his mouth opened, but no sound came out. She thrashed again, intent on getting away.
He shook her again, this time getting out, “Natalie! Stop!”
A surreal panic infused her; she knew if she couldn’t get away from him, something bad was going to happen.
She opened her mouth to scream when – “NATALIE! WAKE UP” was roared into her ear.
She shot up, narrowly avoiding hitting Taavi in the nose with her forehead. He was crouched on his knees overtop of her, his hands gripping her shoulders.
She fell back to the bed with a shuddering breath, wiping her sweaty hair from her forehead. Taavi threaded his fingers into her hair, massaging her temples with his thumbs.
“It was a dream, alaila. You’re okay. Everything is okay.” He dropped to his side and pulled her into his arms. “You were shouting for Kayla and Ben. They were your friends right? Want to talk about it?” he asked as he brushed his lips over her ear.
She shuddered again, still caught between the dream and reality.
“Taavi, I have such a horrible feeling, like if I don’t find them or get to them, they’re going to die. It was dark and I was alone. I felt someone was watching me, but I didn’t want him to know I knew. Then Kayla and Ben yelled for me, and when I finally found them, these evil men – shrouded in darkness – killed them. One of them grabbed me, and his eyes, Taavi. His eyes. They were evil, like he was dead inside. I bit my tongue when he grabbed me and I spat blood in his face. I was so scared I tried to run, but there was another one behind me. At that point I think reality and dream mixed because he had your eyes, probably because you were trying to wake me up.”
Taavi was quiet, clearly thinking about how to respond. Natalie snuggled closer, letting his warmth thaw her.
“Natalie, I promise you, once the Nezlean threat has been neutralized, I will do everything in my power to help you get back to your friends. I vow it, alaila.”
Natalie sighed, laying her hand back on his still-pounding heart.
“What does that mean? You’ve called me that a few times tonight, and I have no idea what it means.”
Taavi pressed a kiss to her forehead while he spoke, his lips moving against her skin.
“Alaila is in my language. It means beloved.”
Natalie pulled her head away from his to look into his eyes. His eyes danced away from hers when they made contact and his face flushed. Natalie smiled and poked him.
“Beloved, huh? I like it. It sounds beautiful and it’s sweet. I approve.”
Taavi’s eyes shot back to hers and a smile grew on his face. He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and a follow up kiss on her nose before laying back down.
“Okay, morning comes early. I’ll stay awake until you’ve gotten back to sleep.”
Natalie closed her eyes, trusting Taavi to keep the nightmares at bay.
Chapter Seventeen
Over the next two weeks Natalie and Taavi spent most of their time together.
Oh sure, they went their separate ways when he had to work and train, at which point she and Tali would spend time fixing her ship, or she
spent time with Lity and Selly, but whenever they had free time, they explored his planet.
On one occasion Taavi made her pack a bag and get into the car. He wouldn’t tell her where he was taking her, only that they would be spending the night.
They had been driving for two hours when they pulled off the road into a massive parking lot. There were cars, trucks, and shuttles all parked there, with no person in sight.
Natalie looked around, a little confused at why they were there.
She looked at Taavi and jokingly said, “Is this where you kill me?”
He shot her a startled look, and then laughed.
“No, alaila, the car won’t work past this point. In fact, nothing works here, no cars, no communications, nothing. Something under the ground has this place in a constant state of electric flux. We call it the Dead Zone… or more officially, Dielarta. Our scientists haven’t been able to figure it out, so we just accepted it and made a kind of survival town. It would surprise you how many people lived here; about twenty thousand.”
It was a twenty-minute hike before they got into town. The buildings were more run down, more bricks than metals. There were people walking up and down the roads, children playing tag and there were actually what appeared to be bicycles being ridden in the streets. There were a few restaurants, clothing stores, mercantile, and a big grocery store.
When Natalie asked Taavi how they got all the food and such to the grocery store, Taavi told Natalie there were a few farms in the area. Those farms provided most of the fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats in the store, not to mention supplied most of the townspeople with jobs. The town was its own little community, disconnected from the planet, and Natalie loved it.
People were extremely friendly, not only greeting each other, but Taavi and Natalie as well. No one gave them strange looks or seemed overly invested in them, and it was nice. Obviously, they were not up to date on a lot of the things that were happening outside of their electronic free zone.
Once they had explored the town and had a meal in one of the small cafés, they spent the day hiking and exploring the area near the lake.
Taavi taught Natalie about the plants and animals; like most of the animals were carnivorous. No particular species lorded over the rest, they all fought one another, and the loser was eaten.
Natalie thought it was slightly barbaric, but Taavi loved it. He thought it was a great metaphor for being male. After he had said that, Natalie couldn’t help but roll her eyes, laughing when he playfully nudged her.
He also taught her how to survive off the plants; which ones were edible, which ones were poisonous, and which ones could scare predators away. He taught her how to build a lean-to, how to make snares, how to hide tracks, and how to hunt.
He basically taught her how to be a commando, because Lord knew, she hadn’t been able to learn how on Earth.
She had asked him why he was teaching her, and he told her it was because his father had taught him and Tali, and his father learned from his father and so on.
“The first time my father brought Tali and I out here, I believe I was ten cycles. Tali was at the age where she didn’t care about her appearance, so she was excited to be out of the city to do something physical, something her big brother would do.” He laughed, shaking his head in remembrance. “I miss those simple days. Anyways, when we first got here, I was a little reluctant to stay without power, sleeping under the stars, peeing in the woods instead of a bathroom, but Tali loved it. Father taught us to swim, to catch the temere – the fish – and to make traps. Basically everything I’ve been teaching you.
“Well, it was our first time at the lake and we spent hours and hours learning about the animals and plants around this area. My father would ask us questions to make sure we knew and understood what he had taught us. We had made a trap earlier in the day and caught a small ringaa – a small animal with soft fur that hops around. I’m not quite sure of the Earth name.”
“I think we call those bunnies – or rabbits – on Earth. Sorry, go on.”
“I just remember father killing it for our supper. We skinned it and roasted it over the fire while the stars came out. It is one of the best memories I have, something I’ll always treasure. And I wanted to share that little piece of my family and I with you.”
He wanted Natalie to have a special part of him only his family had.
Natalie thought it was very sweet.
She reached over and touched Taavi’s forearm.
“Thank you. That’s a wonderful memory.”
Taavi nodded, smiling.
“Is there any memory from your childhood that’s special to you?”
“Hmmm,” she tapped her chin in thought. Even though she felt a little sad at the memories coming at her, she was happy she could share some with Taavi. “Well, I guess I’ll just tell you about one of my favourite memories. On Earth we live in domes because of the pollution. There is no ‘outside’ anymore. At least, not if you want to live. Anyways, the government knew that people would get restless, being cooped up in the domed cities and buildings, so they made this Destination dome. It was a massive dome, filled with trees, plants, and animals. It had some streams, just to make it seem like a real outdoor thing. Typically at night we can’t see the stars because of the poisoned atmosphere, but in Destination they have a synthesized sky, meaning they basically projected the sky to simulate what it should look like.
“So, for my thirteenth birthday, I wanted to go to Destination. Dad hemmed and hawed for a month before because it was so expensive, but mom convinced him we could go for a weekend. We went to this small cabin in the middle of the woods, and I had never been so excited in my life. There were real life trees and grass all around, and animals chattering in the trees. The cabin itself was made of wood and had three rooms. In the main room, a huge window overlooked a small stream where a deer was drinking. I was so excited I raced outside and over to the stream. The deer looked at me – startled – but didn’t bolt. My parents and brother quietly walked up behind me and we all just watched as the deer drank. None of us had ever seen something so amazing before.”
Taavi had a frown on his face as he asked, “Why would that amaze you? You don’t have that in your home’s dome?”
“You have to understand, where I come from none of this,” she gestured to the trees and water around them, “exists anymore. It’s mostly artificial. In the dome where I lived, it used to be the city of Toronto, in a country called Canada. There were no real trees because we didn’t have water – or room – to spare. They had trees strategically placed to make the city look nicer, but they had no real job. A tree’s job is to take carbon dioxide and make it into oxygen, right? Well, it can’t on Earth because we live in a dome. Sure, the dome is transparent, but it blocks out all of the vitamins and minerals we need to get from the sun because it is now too harmful. Plus, we don’t get rain anymore, so we don’t waste what water we do have on plants. Those trees are fake. We use machines to clean our air and supply us with oxygen. So to be somewhere where they actually allow plants and trees to grow, for animals to roam free? It was amazing.”
Taavi shook his head.
“That sounds terrible. I couldn’t live on your world. It’s a beautiful memory,” he said as he stroked her cheek, “but it is sad. Thank you for sharing with me.”
After sharing those memories, they decided to spend the rest of the afternoon swimming in the cool lake. Of course, when they got pruned, they lay on the small sand beach and talked about their lives, their hopes and dreams, and any other memory they could think of.
It was one of the best days Natalie had ever had.
After skinning a squirrel-like animal with deep purple fur and roasting it for supper, they bedded down for the night beside the fire. Taavi had been surprised by how cold it got, so they snuggled in together, trying to keep warm.
It was a beautiful – if cold – night. The stars and moon, the distant planets still visible; it was so different
from Earth, and so much more beautiful than anything she had ever seen.
During the night, Natalie woke up and had to pee. She quietly snuck out from under the covers and a little ways into the trees, knowing it was safe after hours spent trekking through it.
So she was surprised, and more than a little scared, when a massive creature was standing in her way when she went to walk back to Taavi.
It obviously didn’t think of her as a threat; it didn’t growl, just stood there, staring at her with glowing eyes.
She couldn’t really see what kind of animal it was, but she could see sharp teeth, a long snout and fur. It had a big, long body, and if Natalie had to guess, it was some type of wolf.
They just stared at each other before it backed into some bushes and was gone.
Natalie stood there, listening to any signs that it was coming back before moving back to the campsite. Taavi was still sleeping, so she quietly got back into the bedding and went to sleep.
When they woke up the next morning and Natalie told him about it, he was first stunned, then angry. He told her to never go anywhere by herself out here at night, that’s when the maroosh come out.
According to him, they were vicious hybrid animals; a mix between an Earth equivalent of a wolf and a mountain lion, at least that is what they came up with after a ten minute discussion about different animal traits.
When they got home, it went back to business as usual. Going to work, sleeping together every night, kissing and cuddling only – nothing serious. They had both agreed early on that they wanted to take things slow, get to know one another, and build a friendship.
Natalie was surprised and moved that Taavi agreed with her on everything. Oh, he wanted more, and so did she, but they wanted a firm foundation before they took that next step.
But boy, was it hard.
The kissing sessions had been heating up recently, making it almost unbearable to stop. Not only had their chemistry been heating up, but their bond had been different as well. They had started experimenting with it, thinking thoughts and emotions at each other, just to see if they could feel anything.
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