Beyond the Stars (34 page)

“Yeah, just picturing being stuck living with the Dreons is nightmare scary,” he responded to my anxious expression.

“Noah, is that why you never got married? You are expected to marry and have children with another Katarian?” I asked, trying to understand their adversity to uniting with another kind.

“I don’t know. I guess so. That may be part of the reason.” He paused. “No, that’s not it. If I wanted to marry a Katarian, I would have stayed on Kataria.”

“Why not then? Clearly, we are not anything like the Dreons. You know that. You’ve been living on Earth for all these years. “

“It’s your fault, Sami.” He huffed.

“
What?
How is it my fault? Noah, what are you saying? You know I love you, but please, not that way. I never meant to cause you any pain. I have always wanted you to find happiness.” I couldn’t help jumping to conclusions. I panicked out of fear that I had somehow led him on.

“Relax, that’s not what I mean, not that I haven’t thought about it.”

“Noah!”

“You’re an amazing friend. You never hurt me.” Noah took both of my hands in his and interlocked our fingers.

“Oh,
good.
” I sighed deeply in relief.

“Besides, I could never be with you. I loved Jack just as much as I love you. He was my brother. I could never betray him like that. You have been my family all of these years, the only family I remember now.” He looked at me with tender eyes.

“I know,” I muttered. I felt Noah’s pain of losing his parents so young. In a sense, we had adopted each other to become family.

“Of course, you are the kind of woman I should want, but it would never work out anyway. You’re way too stable and independent. I like women who aren’t clear on what they want. You know, kind of messy, needy. They’re more fun.”

I leaned my finger against my lip as I looked at him in bewilderment. Despite his intelligence, he always seemed to gravitate to women with the least compatibility. How could he be so aware of his dating trends yet unable to change them? “And you don’t see that as the problem?”

“No.” He smirked.

“I don’t get it. Then how am I to blame?”

“I think it was from watching you and Jack. It’s just that the two of you set the bar so high. Your devotion was evident. I wanted to find someone I could love like that, but I never felt that way about anyone. I have
never
loved anyone with such intensity. And here you are, doing it all over again with Gaelan. The two of you look inseparable. How do you do it? How can you fall in love so easily?”

“Oh, Noah, hmm, I don’t know. It just happens. It will happen for you, too. You need to be willing to let someone in.” I didn’t have an answer. I wished I could magically give him his ideal woman. But how do you help someone who seems incapable of making good decisions when it came to choosing a partner? I thought about his impression of my relationship with Jack and now with Gaelan. He was right. I had been blessed twice in my life. I could hardly believe my own good fortune.

***

I went to exercise with Azil later that morning. I could have sworn I saw her notice the bracelet as well. The thing seemed impossible to hide. I was relieved that she never mentioned it, though. I’m not sure how she would have felt about it. She was her usual bubbly self. I wished I could have told her, but after what Noah had said, I decided not to. Instead, I repeatedly tucked it under my sleeve. That’s when I first noticed something strange about the bracelet. When I touched it with my fingertips, the metal gave me an unexplained feeling of being connected to Gaelan. It was bizarre. The sensation made it impossible to doubt the bracelet’s origin. I
knew
it was Gaelan’s. His essence seemed
preserved
in its metal. It made me wonder what it was made of. I couldn’t wait to speak to him. He had some explaining to do. I waited in our room for him to finish his shift.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Gaelan said, pulling me into his arms when he walked through the door.

“Hey, yourself. How was your day?” I smiled.

“Uneventful,” he said flatly before he gave me a quick kiss. “How was yours?”

“Good. I went to breakfast with Noah and exercised with Azil. Noah saw the bracelet you gave me today,” I said casually as I freed myself from his embrace.

His cheerful expression quickly faded into a nervous frown. “Oh yeah … and what does he think about it?” he asked hesitantly.

“He said he’s happy for us.”

“
Really?
He said that. What a relief! I wasn’t sure what he would think. Sometimes, he’s really hard to read.” He exhaled. I knew he was referring to Noah’s brotherly over-protectiveness of me.

“With Noah, what you see is what you get,” I explained.

“Yeah, but he still tends to look at me like he hasn’t decided if he likes me being with you.”

“No, it’s not you. He’s just been a really good friend and doesn’t want to see me get hurt.”

“I can see that. He’s very loyal to you.”

“Gaelan, is there something you want to tell me?” I asked.

“Yes.” His face looked anxious. “First, tell me
what
you know,” he said reluctantly as he let out a huff of air.

“Well, apparently, we’re married.” I held up my arm with the bracelet.

“Yes, technically,” he muttered.

“
Technically
. What is that supposed to mean?” I held up my hands in frustration. “When were you going to tell me?”

“I would have explained about the band yesterday, but you had already been through so much. What more could I burden you with? It just wasn’t a good time.”

“What about last night? Wasn’t that a good time?”

“Please, Sami, let me explain. Last night,
ugh,
” he said with a small grin lifting the edges of his lips. “Last night was great! I wanted to tell you, but it was late. I just wasn’t totally sure of your reaction. I didn’t want you to get upset with me. I couldn’t ruin the moment. I was afraid you might insist I remove it at once. It felt fantastic to be so close to you.”

“I need you to be truthful with me,” I pleaded while I maintained my distance.

“I wanted to ask you formally,” he said in a soothing voice.

“Really? You mean you didn’t just give it to me as a decoy to protect me from the Dreons?”

“
No
,” he stressed the word, “I would never give it to someone unless I meant it.”

“Then, please, by all means.” I crossed my arms, awaiting his next move.

“Sami,” he pulled me towards him and gently unwound my arms to hold my hands, “I have never met anyone like you. I never want to hurt you. I want you. I never want to let you go. I hope that you desire the same. Would you please consider being with me forever?” he asked as he kept his eyes steadily on mine.

I reached up and hugged him. “I will.
Yes
, Gaelan, I will.” He embraced me tightly. I should’ve been angry for the initial deception, but, instead, I felt even more drawn to him. I couldn’t resist my feelings for him if I tried. He leaned down and kissed me tenderly. I pulled off his shirt and kissed his chest. The rest of our clothes soon followed. He laid me on the bed. Before I knew it, we made love. His movements seemed so deliberate yet delightful. He touched me as if he could anticipate my every desire. His kisses left me breathless. Extreme passion emanated from his strong body, making it impossible not to fall straight into a state of bliss. My body
shuddered
with intense pleasure when I rested peacefully beside him. He scooped me into his arms and pulled me to his chest to hold me close.

“I will love you forever. We will have the best life together. Your happiness is my happiness,” Gaelan whispered softly.

“I love you, too. I’m so lucky to have found you,” I said with sincerity.

“
You?
I’m the lucky one.”

I couldn’t help myself. I was completely taken in by him. I had never wanted anyone more. He seemed willing to sacrifice everything to put me at the top of his list. Unlike with Jack, his job didn’t seem to have quite the hold on him. My head filled with memories recalling the resentment I had felt when Jack first accepted his assignment to work on the Space resort, leaving me behind. Today, I couldn’t keep his memory from popping into my mind after talking with Noah this morning. Gaelan made me believe that he would give up everything to be with me. I trusted him with all my heart.

“Ah, you’re amazing. You make me so happy,” I replied. I closed my eyes and snuggled into his body. We stayed there comfortably for another half hour before Gaelan quickly sat up, jumped out of bed, and started pulling on his clothes.

“I have to go. I lost track of time. Tyden and Zaric will be wondering where I am.”

“Why? Where do you have to go?”

“I have to finish some last-minute reports before we land. And to make the task even more grueling, we are required to submit them in formal Katarian hand.”

“
Really?
I can’t even remember the last time I wrote something by hand.”

“Uh-huh. It’s absurd.” He let out a huff. I could tell he wasn’t pleased with following the old tradition. I couldn’t believe they were forbidden to use dictation.
Who’s the more advanced society now?

“What kind of reports do you have to prepare?”

“Reports on you, of course.” He smirked. “We have to describe how your people are progressing, your current level, and the success of our instruction.”

“I see. You know it sounds sort of creepy when you put it that way. It makes us sound like a charity case.”

He stared at me blankly. “A charity case? I do not understand.”

“When you say you are measuring the success of your instruction, it makes us sound helpless.”

“No, you’re anything but. We’re impressed by your quick advancements. Your society is progressing faster than we had anticipated. However, it has been decided that we will not disrupt your natural timeline of discovery. It is important that you reach each stage on your own. We are only allowed to intervene in improving your current technology and helping you avoid catastrophic events. Our goal is to guide you. We cannot jump you ahead before you are ready. That may hurt you more than help you.”

“You sure have a lot of rules to follow.”

“More than you know.”

CHAPTER 23

HUNTED

Gaelan returned later that evening, and we had another amazing night together. I’m not sure if my heighted desire was due to having Gaelan as my partner or my vaccine-renewed body. Either way—this could be dangerous. I felt more relaxed being with him than ever before. I think I had secretly been fearful of losing him. I let down my guard. I was exhausted from the excitement of the past few days. I fell asleep in his arms, only to slip into a terrible nightmare ….

I was standing in the study alone when each of the ceiling lights started to burn out one by one. The room was suddenly freezing as the temperature seemed to plummet at the same time. I ran into the bedroom and watched in horror as the energy was sucked out of each of those lights as well. I reached to grab a small flashlight I had in my bag and flicked it on. Within seconds, its beam of light dimmed and went out. I had no idea what was happening. A power failure perhaps, some sort of interference with the electronics? I felt around in the dark room, fumbled upon the ship’s communicator, and quickly called Gaelan. To my relief, his face appeared on the screen.

“
Gaelan, what’s going on? The room went completely black
,” I told him anxiously.

“
Everything’s okay here. Don’t worry, I’ll be there in a few minutes to check it out
,” he said. That’s when I felt it.
Whoosh!
A whirling rush of wind flew by my arm as something went past me in the darkness. I wasn’t alone. Goosebumps rose on my arms from the coldness and unexpected presence. Whoosh! There it was again.

“
Gaelan, help, there’s something in our room
,” I shouted. His image faded as the power from the communicator went dead. “
Who’s there?
” I frantically asked. I reached my hands out to feel for the intruder.
Whoosh!
The thing whipped by me once more. I swung my arms out, trying to catch it, but came up empty-handed. Then, without notice, something grabbed a hold of me. “
Ahh! Let me go!
” I screamed. It dragged me across the room by my right arm with its squeezing grip. A flash of blinding light suddenly shined upon me. I fought to open my eyes against its brightness.