The car carrying the gorgeous brunette neighbor pulled out of the parking lot. Unable to stop himself, he turned and watched her drive away. There was something inexplicable about her that drew him.
When he turned back, Gabrielle smiled smugly as if she knew he was interested in the brunette. She blinked one eye at him. He knew it signified something but couldn't recall the Earth meaning.
Little Craig's small hand on his face distracted him from Gabrielle's look and the beautiful, dark-haired woman he needed to ignore anyway.
"I want to go to the park,” little Craig said in his sweet voice.
"Let's not waste time here then, boy. Let's go to the park."
"Take Skippy with you, too,” Gabrielle said.
"Skippy?"
"The dog."
"Oh, right, the furry little earth creature. Fine. He may join us if he behaves."
"Skippy is a good dog. Of course, he'll behave. He'll behave just like a dog, so don't forget to take a plastic grocery bag with you."
Crag closed his eyes briefly, shook his head, and then headed to the park nearby. He hadn't fully understood why Keller chose this life on purpose. He could have been king instead of forfeiting his kingship for a life of ordinary human pursuits.
Spending time living with them had given Crag a keener understanding. Keller lived with a spunky mate and a beautiful child. The foolish look on Keller's face every time he looked at his mate gave Crag pause.
What would he give to turn the clock back and agree to have children with Sybille?
And yet, comparing his former life to Keller's wasn't the same. He would never have been able to force himself to love Sybille the way she loved him, therefore his guilt endured. Keller told him having a life mate was physical. Something to do with what earthlings called pheromones. Whatever they were.
Weeks ago, Crag had admitted his failure and consuming guilt over Sybille's untimely death immediately upon his arrival on Earth once he and Keller were alone. A single broken sensor on their spacecraft had failed to announce the uncharted asteroid field their craft drifted into during the fateful flight. Crag spewed forth all his rage to Keller over the event that caused Sybille to lose her life. He also expressed his long-held guilt over not loving her as she had loved him and his additional sorrow at his bleak future.
Keller listened and nodded but didn't offer any advice right away. Keller made it easy for Crag to remain away from his haunting memories and empty routine on Tiburon by offering unlimited sanctuary on Earth.
"You may stay as long as you wish,” Keller told him. “Gabrielle is due to deliver the babies in a few weeks. The Earth healer said because she is carrying twins, she might deliver early. It would be helpful to me if you watched over our apartment while we're gone and until we move into our new dwelling."
"What about your boy, little Craig? Do you want me to watch over him also?"
"Thank you for offering, but it is already taken care of. Will you be all right here all alone?"
Crag shrugged and then nodded but didn't offer any words.
"I'm more sorry than I can express over Sybille's death."
Crag flinched at hearing her name but quickly recovered and said, “Thank you."
"Don't regret the kindness you showed to Sybille in her last moments, Crag. It doesn't make you less of a man.” Keller was his lifelong friend. If anyone could understand, Keller would.
"No, it makes me a liar."
"You're hopeless. What if you find your life mate in the next couple of years? It doesn't mean you didn't care deeply for Sybille."
Crag pierced Keller with his angriest look. “I loved her. Just not the way she wanted."
"You don't feel guilty because she died. You are distraught because you have a second chance to find your true life mate through her death."
Resentment flared at his friend's statement. He almost struck Keller before thinking. He lowered the fist he didn't remember raising and said, “Cease your words."
"I'll stop after I tell you one last thing. I know you loved Sybille. You life partnered with her in good faith. You held yourself pure for her as she did for you. Just because she wasn't your true life mate doesn't mean it was not a valid life partnership. Not all partnerships are based on love. Before I met Gabrielle, I was in negotiations to life partner with Maura's sister, Lena. I knew she was not my life mate. If I had partnered with Lena, it would have been the same between us as it was for you and Sybille. I'm lucky I found Gabrielle."
"I'm not sure it's the same thing,” Crag muttered.
"If Sybille had lived, you would have been a faithful, caring partner to her until the day one of you died naturally. If she had lived and you had died on the star craft, would you want her to end her life with yours?"
"Of course not. She deserved so much more."
"What didn't she get with you that she deserved?"
"A child."
Keller shrugged. “You were only together a short while."
"We talked about it right before she died. She wanted to carry a life inside her so much. She glowed with the wish to carry my child, and I was uncertain. I should have agreed."
"You cannot feel guilty for that over which you have no control. Let it go."
"With her last breath, she believed I wanted to die rather than life partner with anyone else. I lied to her as she perished in my arms."
Keller sighed deeply. “You need to forgive yourself, my friend. As I see it, you did nothing wrong. Sybille would forgive you. Why did you ever agree to life partner with her if you didn't love her?"
"I did love her ... just not enough."
"What's enough?"
Crag sighed. “I don't know."
* * * *
Crag had gone to where Keller worked at the University as a professor and signed up to volunteer his talents in self-defense combat tactics. The part time job would keep him occupied. It was soothing to be in a different world where no one expected him to carry out the commonplace duties of his command. He'd always enjoyed his responsibilities as The Commander. He wanted to enjoy them again, therefore, coming to Earth had been a good idea. He simply needed a break from his routine. Soon he'd return to Tiburon with a clear head and a desire to fulfill his responsibilities.
Crag also spent more time with Gabrielle than he ever had before. The fragile bond of tolerance between them worked fairly well as time moved forward even if it wasn't quite perfect. He gained more understanding of Keller's love for Gabrielle by watching them together. Keller loved her, and it was obvious to Crag after living with them that Gabrielle also adored Keller. Crag's harsh attitude of her faded the longer he spent in her company.
In order to facilitate the living arrangement, Crag had been helping Gabrielle around their domicile while Keller was at work. To that end, he had just returned from the grocery store with what Gabrielle called the essentials. The essentials, according to Gabrielle, consisted of bread, milk, and peanut butter.
Crag carried a bag of groceries he'd been instructed to retrieve from the store on the corner down the street. He entered the apartment building with a single plastic shopping bag in one hand and nearly knocked down one of the other apartment residents, the beautiful female earthling he had admired before. Crag thought his heart had risen to his throat as he stood there and gaped at her.
The earthling was tall. Her rich, dark hair spilled over her elegant shoulders. Her palms came up in front of her. “Oh, I'm sorry."
Crag nodded and stepped to the left as the gorgeous brunette moved in the precise same direction at the exact same time. Again, they faced each other, unable to move forward on their respective trajectories. He noted her eyes were a vivid shade of green.
"I'm so sorry,” she said again as a vibrant grin shaped her lush mouth. Crag focused on her lips as he moved. As if they'd synchronized it in advance, they both took another step. This time, they moved to his right. They were back in the same place as they'd started, still unable to move forward.
&
nbsp; "Would you like to dance?” she asked and laughed. The musical quality of her sultry voice washed over him, and he couldn't respond for a moment.
"Dance?” he finally managed to ask. His feet were rooted to the floor almost toe-to-toe with hers. He took the opportunity to gaze into her eyes then narrowed his own in question and asked, “You wish to dance with me?"
Her sudden laughter filled the apartment building entryway, bouncing off the walls and warming his heart. “I honestly wouldn't mind dancing with you, but I'm not very good at it. I'd stomp all over your feet, and you'd be left with a permanent limp."
Crag let a smile shape his lips. His eyes still rested on her full lips. She was perfection. She reached out to him. He couldn't move. He wasn't prepared for her to lay hands on him.
She placed her hands on his upper arms. Her sudden touch vibrated through his body. He held his breath. She grasped his biceps firmly and twisted his upper torso sideways. He let her move his body where she wanted. His feet also shifted to one side as her head turned down to look at the floor between them. The floral fragrance of her thick, dark hair assaulted his senses, and he leaned toward her to take a deeper breath before realizing what he'd done. She smelled very nice, and a long dormant feeling rose in him. He wanted her.
The dark-haired earthling lifted her head. A smile graced her face, and he couldn't help but notice her mouth was now very close to his. A thread of desire pounded through him, fighting for a chance to be recognized. Crag wondered what might happen next.
"There!” She squeezed his arms once and unfortunately let go of him. She leaned out of his sensory range, but he was rewarded with her touch again as she patted his shoulder several times with one hand.
"There?” A deep, nearly forgotten place inside him wanted to lean forward and inhale her delectable scent again. He longed to touch her arms in return, but he forcibly stopped.
She grinned at him again. “Yes, now we can continue on with our lives."
Crag didn't want to continue on with his life. He wanted to know who she was. He smiled at the dark-haired earthling and prepared to ask her name, but she darted away through the apartment building's front door. He turned his head and watched her go.
"Have a great day!” she called out over her shoulder and disappeared from his view.
He clenched the white plastic grocery bag and got his emotions under control. The dark-haired earthling was beautiful and someone he needed to avoid at all costs. He wasn't here to find a woman for any reason. It didn't matter how beautiful she was or how wonderful she smelled.
Crag turned toward the hallway, refusing to think about her hands on his arms. He would not allow the memory of the delicious pressure of her touch to register. He was not here to find an earthling. He would not think of her again, would he?
Crag wondered if he'd developed pheromones for the dark haired earthling. If he hadn't promised to help Keller, Crag knew he might consider leaving Earth before he discovered and acted on his attraction to this dark-haired earthling.
The birth of Keller and Gabrielle's twin daughters later the same night derailed any sudden plans for his return to Tiburon. This momentous event also served to distract him from his wayward emotions for a dark-haired earthling he needed to stop thinking about anyway.
Chapter Two
Crag stared at the stars blazing in the night sky as he sat on his Earth conveyance called a motorcycle. The quiet parking area outside the apartment building made stargazing a must before entering his temporary domain.
With Gabrielle's gestational confinement completed, she and the children were ensconced in their new larger dwelling. Now, their old home was his. He found he liked the peace and quiet of his own space, although he did miss little Craig.
Day to day, he enjoyed an undemanding schedule, working part time at the college law enforcement training center on the campus where Keller was employed. He enjoyed it in the short term, but the time was fast approaching when he'd leave Earth and return to Tiburon. A month or two more perhaps, and he would resume his duties as The Commander at Arms to the Queen, hopefully with a clearer head.
But for now, the quiet solitude of the open space around him was enough. Tonight, several star groups clustered the skies above. Earthlings called them constellations. He took a deep breath of crisp night air and allowed the peaceful evening to envelop and relax him until a large vehicle roared into the other side of the parking area, breaking his tranquility. It barely squealed to a halt before the passenger door flew open and a woman jumped out and slammed the door behind her.
He hoped the intruders would enter the building quickly and leave him alone to his stargazing.
Taking a closer look at the woman, he realized with a sudden punch to his awareness, she was the dark-haired earth girl he'd been avoiding for the last few weeks. She fascinated him, but he took great pains to steer clear of her. He was not here to pursue a woman, he reminded himself again, no matter how gorgeous and enticing he found her.
Crag stayed in the shadows so she wouldn't notice him before retiring inside. The driver's door then opened and a man exited quickly. He intercepted her around the front of the car. The headlights of the vehicle lit them both, and Crag saw her clearly.
She was upset.
"Ellie, darling, please don't be cross with me. You know I love you. Why can't you see reason?” The man's placating voice carried across the parking area to where Crag sat motionless.
"Because there's no good reason for what you're doing. I don't understand why you would do this to me.” The dark-haired girl's voice, raised in excitement, carried across the space to him. The sultry sound, slightly lower in tone than he'd remembered from his dreams, delivered a blow to his heightened senses. He was unable to turn away from her, wanting to hear her speak more, to listen to the music of her words.
"I must marry Bitsy. But it doesn't mean I don't love you, darling. You know that I adore you as no other woman in my past."
"But I thought you wanted to marry me.” She put her hand to her chest, punctuating her plea. “I thought you loved me."
"I do love you. Don't you understand that, as my mistress, you'll have much more of my attention than as my wife. I promise you, once I spend a few months settling in with Bitsy, then we'll go right back to where we are now."
Crag knew what the term mistress was from his short time on Earth. It meant a sexual companionship without commitment to life partnership. On Tiburon, the only term similar in meaning was conjuxtrix. It wasn't quite the same thing. Conjuxtrix loosely meant ‘inappropriate life partner to the king.’ Still, Crag didn't blame the dark-haired girl for not wanting to be the man's inappropriate companion after he committed himself to another. Crag wished he could offer her solace, but he remained silent in his shadowed hiding place.
"No. Forget it. It's over between us.” The dark-haired girl turned away from the man, lowered her head and stood with arms wrapped around hugging herself. Crag thought he heard her sob as if in anguish.
"Don't be that way, darling. Give me three or four months at the very most, and I'll set you up in a nicer place, and everything will be as it was.” The man crossed to where she stood. Running her hands up and down her arms, she let out a very distinct sound of sadness.
"I don't want to be your mistress."
"Darling, of course you do.” The man wrapped his arms around her to hug her, but she broke from his embrace.
"Don't touch me!"
"Ellie, please, you're breaking my heart."
"Join the club. My heart is already broken. When you told me you had important news to tell me, I thought you were going to ask me to marry you. I didn't expect you to callously inform me about your wedding plans to another woman."
"Please try to understand, love. As a Farnsworth, I must marry within my own class. I don't have a choice."
"You do have a choice, but you've already decided that I'm not good enough."
"It has nothing to do with being good enough. I'm simply required
to marry someone from money and a high social standing in order for my family to continue my allowance. I must do this tiny thing to maintain my funds and ensure the standard of living to which I've become accustomed.” The man smiled.
"I don't care if you have money. Please don't marry her."
"But you see, darling, I do care about money. I won't give up my inheritance. You simply can't ask that of me."
"If you really loved me, you'd give the money up. I refuse to be your mistress. Either break up with Bitsy, or it's over between us. I mean it."
"Don't be ridiculous, darling. Ultimatums never work. Now, I'm marrying Bitsy, and that's final. During the next few months until the wedding, I'll be required to attend various pre-nuptial functions. But I want you to know that I'll miss you, darling, so very much.
"I'll promise you here and now that when I'm on our month long honeymoon to Europe, I'll only be thinking of you."
Her sharp intake of breath told Crag she was hurt by the man's remark. It was the look on her face at that precise moment which made Crag want to go against his better judgment and intervene. Instead, he remained seated. It was none of his business, yet the look of utter betrayal on the face of the dark-haired girl—no, Ellie's face—disturbed him. That was her name, according to the foolishly arrogant man before her.
Crag hadn't seen her this close since that one time in the entryway to their apartment building. He continued his perusal of her from a distance whenever the opportunity presented itself. The dark-haired earthling was as stunning as the vision of her in his dreams each night, despite the harsh brilliance of the vehicle's twin spotlights.
"I can't believe you think I'll wait for you while you go off on a honeymoon with someone else. We're through, Brandon. I want you gone right now. Don't ever call me again."
"Don't be hasty, Ellie. I know you don't mean it. Tell you what I'll do. I'll give you a week or two to cool off, and I'll break away from the nuptial chaos and call you."
"Don't call me. Just stay away. I never want to see you again."
The man gave her a tolerant look before he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. He climbed into his vehicle without another word and drove away.
Just One Embrace [The Tiburon Duet, Book 2] Page 2