In His Alien Hands (6 page)

“Phew, child, you would cause a panic if I set you down in a tiger shark area. They’d swim for their lives. I mean really, that’s disgusting.”

Neola kicked her feet, chortling, obviously having a fine time. Arax raised his hands to fend off filth as spatters went flying when she kicked. Arax grabbed her ankles in one hand and waved his other. Meadow’s eyes widened. A swirl of water rose from a basin and moved toward the girl in an instant bidet, swirling gently around her bottom and legs. With a wave of his hand the water vanished. The baby gave in to an outright peel of laughter. Arax chuckled.

For a moment he leaned down and tickled the babe under her arms. Her small fists waved in delight. The two were precious together. The idea sent a shiver through Meadow. Her dad had been as wonderful.

“That’s some trick,” Meadow said.

Arax cast her a quick glance before he slipped a strange cloth onto Neola’s behind. He lifted the child into his arms, hugging her to his chest. Neola grabbed his nose, making him laugh. She was bare from the waist up. From the fountain off to the side Arax made the water float toward her then dance across her skin. Neola was delighted. Around and around the water swirled, lightly cleansing her face, ruffling her tufts of hair, until settling back into the fountain.

A soft, fluffy blanket lay nearby and he wrapped her in it. He strode over to Meadow and sat on the bed. Both he and Neola looked at her wide-eyed. Neola rested her head against his chest and gave Meadow a tentative smile. A dimple teased in and out. She could see two teeth. This had to be the most irresistible baby Meadow had ever seen. She reached for her. With reluctance Arax handed the baby over. Meadow sat her on her knee.

“You obviously love this baby,” Meadow said. “Why not just teach another how to cope with her? Now you’re stuck with me, another human female.”

“I’m not stuck with you, I chose you. Some would consider that a great honor. The females here would care for the baby. They might even love her after a while, but I’m leader of the water warriors, and that is something the females here will never forget. I rule all here, even those who do not want me to. I wanted a human female, someone who doesn’t care about my position. But there are things you do need to know. We are at war with the shark people, rebels who refuse to fall under my rule, and they take up much of my attention. But right now they’re a little indisposed.” He grinned evilly.

“Do your people have rules with regards to humans?”

Arax squirmed. “If I take a mate from one of my kind, Neola will always be an outcast. A child born to me will displace her. The second I held her in my arms she became mine, my child, my first born. Tradition dictates she be taken care of, but our society will frown on her mating one of our kind. Unless…”

“Unless?” Meadow narrowed her gaze.

“Unless I take a human as a mate. I had no intention of doing so until I returned from the council. It would appear my indiscretion hasn’t gone unnoticed. There is unease among my citizens.” Arax got up to pace. “We war with shark people, but it goes beyond that. I am leader, but my actions have caused some to question my leadership.”

“Actions?”

“I’m a self-centered, condescending bastard by anyone’s standards. An accident involving the Zargonnii and a human female was almost disastrous. I thought we,
I
, handled the situation, but that’s all I did. Then I retrieve a human female and leave some of the enemy in a portal. I just had a meeting with the council, and they are furious. Word has gotten out Neola is here and not yours by birth, you have been leaked as well. I guess the females I asked to aid Neola weren’t as closed-mouthed as I’d hoped.”

“What is it you want?” Something told her she wouldn’t like his answer.

“You. I need you to mate with me. A mate will ground me, keep me centered.”

“No thanks.” Meadow waved a hand. Instantly, Neola grabbed it and began playing with Meadow’s fingers.

Arax stopped pacing, startled. “I saved you.”

“Yes, and I’m hurt and starving. I’ve been here a day at least and you haven’t told me I could leave this room to tend to my own needs if necessary. I don’t know this place, and I didn’t want to wander alone. Aside from the fact we don’t love, know, or care about each other, you simply brought me here without seeing to my needs. I can’t go anywhere. You claimed I was a secret, so I stayed put. You can’t just dump someone somewhere and leave them alone with nothing. Even the pirates let me wander. Don’t you have any responsibility? Or are you as spoiled and pampered as you seem? Oh, I pissed off the council, so I’ll mate and shut them up.” She’d switched to a mocking voice, tiring of him strutting about telling her what would now happen with her life.
The mighty water warrior leader.
“Hey, I want a babysitter for my baby, so I’ll open a portal and not think of the consequences. Why not lock up a few shark people? That’s what I’m guessing you did by the smug look on your face. I saw you say something to that shark behind the ice wall, and I could see he was furious. Of course someone will bring food and water to a
secret
I’m keeping in my room.”

Neola nodded off in her arms, and she placed the baby on the bed beside her. Meadow was miserable. Her tummy rumbled, her side ached, and she reeked of brackish saltwater.

“I’m not mating with a male who only saved me to keep as a babysitter and hasn’t bothered to care if I starve and stink.”

Arax opened and closed his mouth like a…fish. Meadow sat staring at him. Arax strode to another room and returned with a small pile of clothes. He pointed at a door. Meadow stood and gazed down at the baby. Arax scooped her up. He then opened the door to a bathing area.

“No one will enter while you wash. I can’t believe I haven’t fed you. I can’t believe no one bothered…” He looked sheepish and, mumbling, he left.

* * * *

Arax stormed from the room. Again he felt like an idiot. Earlier the council had been so condescending when they’d gathered. Arax was law, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t governed to a small degree. The council was normally quiet about his indiscretions. Now they were having a field day. As though he had behaved like a spoiled brat when all he did was save two human females. He bristled. He had saved Neola and found another to watch her. With his chest puffed out, he’d been full of himself when he’d entered the council chamber. The smile had fallen from his lips when every member met him with a glare.

It wasn’t Arax’s fault everything was a mess. The council had found out about both humans, they knew the baby was once a grown woman and possibly mated to a Zargonnii. He was a little embarrassed about his lie, but he had twisted the truth before. So what?

Now it was a huge issue. Arax knew the healer was annoyed with humans, but he never thought he’d risk Arax’s wrath by telling on him. It must have been a female. But only the healer knew the baby might once have been mate to Titus, the leader of the Southern Zargonnii. Arax’s last encounter with the massive aliens was less than stellar, he had almost killed a human female. There was nothing so loathed as a male who killed a female.

So what was he to do? Return both the child and human to Earth? No. Earth was dead.

The council stood firm and had demanded Arax accept responsibility. They suggested a mating, and Arax had almost hit the floor. Mate a human? Granted, she was stunning to look at but sassy as heck. The council didn’t care what he wanted. They were tired of him playing with their planet’s females. He’d found the humans and he was going to keep them. But he had just met the adult female and he’d forgotten to feed her. Arax groaned. He was an idiot. No wonder she was annoyed with him.

Too many things were happening too fast. New aliens, Earth dying, humans, sharks, babies. The last made him smile. His chest tightened as he gazed into his baby’s face. Whoever Neola was before, she was his now. His baby. He would mate with the cute and sassy female and keep the baby. That should appease the council.

A female waited to do his bidding when he left his room. He motioned her over and placed Neola into her arms. Arax traced Neola’s forehead with a finger.

“Give my daughter back to her mother after she has washed.”

The female gaped, then recovered and nodded stiffly. Her entire demeanor changed. Neola was cuddled close. It would take a megalodon army to get his baby from her arms. As it should be, he thought with a toss of his head, he’d just informed her that she held his heir.

Grabbing a tray from the eating hall while others watched made him self-conscious. Soon he blocked everyone else out and seriously wondered what he should feed the human. Breads, shellfish, and other delicacies the ocean had to offer—he would start there. He tipped his head toward a few silently gazing at the food he’d gathered. They knew it was for the human. Arax was brought food, he didn’t take food to others. Those he passed seemed surprised.
Good. Let them see me taking responsibility.

When he entered his room a short time later both Meadow and Neola were sleeping. The female he had given Neola to had taken her to her mother as requested. Meadow had washed and changed. Now clean, she was beautiful, not that she was ugly when dirty. She was thin but her beautiful curves made his loins stir. That surprised Arax. Many females were attractive but they all wanted something from him. Meadow needed him. Her vulnerability was appealing. The stay on the Earth vessel must have been hard, but her spirit and her innocence remained intact. Arax had no clue if she had been with another male, but her being shone with humanity.

Meadow’s arms cuddled Neola close to keep her safe. This was what Arax wanted, a female who put others before herself. A leader’s queen should be selfless, as he should be toward her. That was Arax’s new role, father, and with hope, a mate to a gentle, kind creature.

He set the tray down and nudged her. She groaned and stretched, carefully placing the baby to her side and covering her with a warm blanket. Her gaze settled on the tray and she pounced as though she’d never eaten in her life. Everything was devoured until Arax grabbed the tray in fear, wondering if her little jaw would snap that in two as well.

“Are you still hungry?” he asked.

“Yes, but my tummy needs to accept this first. I’m not used to so much so fast. I think I only ate maybe every other day, and then maybe twice during the same day. Food, even bad food, was a luxury. I was on that ship for two years. We had little food, but a lot of pain and heartache. We lived day to day. Thank you, Arax.”

Her head was bowed. She appeared embarrassed. Arax shouldn’t have snatched the tray away. Her stay on the vessel was far worse than he had speculated, and his admiration for her grew. There wasn’t a day that went by that Arax didn’t have enough to eat. He went to bed healthy, not fearful. There was stress but nothing he couldn’t handle.

Arax took a good, long look at the human he’d saved.
He’d saved her.
Now the council demanded he mate with her if they were to accept her in their lives as well as Neola. How did he come to be directly responsible for two human lives? Yes, he watched over his people. In a half-assed fashion.

The council was forcing his hand with responsibility. He had trapped the shark people, and by doing that he’d sealed his fate. How ironic. A tiny curmudgeon gazed at him. He wondered again how horrible her existence must have been. Neola had been dealt an awful hand in her human world, but her life was now his to mold and cater to.

“Meadow, I know everything you knew is gone.”

“Thank God.”

Arax blinked.
Indeed.
What was he thinking? “This is the beginning of your new life. The council has demanded I either mate with you and accept Neola as my child or give you both up. I can create a portal to send you to a new world, but my options are limited. I can’t send you to the Zargonnii. Their water has a deadly type of pond scum that would kill you the second you entered the planet. The Castians have a failsafe that won’t allow their world to be entered into by water—at one time theirs had been poisoned until their females perished. The only world I know of that is remotely safe is the Dalanee warriors. The dark winged males. I highly doubt they would hand you over to either of the warriors I just mentioned. They want human females.”

“You mean the ones who keep humans as slaves?”

“They won’t be cruel, but I don’t want to hand over Neola. I can’t. I love her. I don’t know why a tiny female has my heart in her grasp. She suffered so much, and I must make certain she is never used again. Be my female. Stay with us and make a home with us. I promise I will try and be more responsible. As a father and mate I’m certain I could if given a chance. For both you and Neola I will try.”

She looked so confused. “I don’t know you.”

“What have you known?”

“Pain. Sadness. Hurt. Fear.”

“You will never feel those things here.”

“I guess I should warn you I’m compulsive.”

Arax snorted. “You’re female and human. I guessed that already.”

She appeared surprised. “And I don’t know your world.”

“You will. Starting now. I will show you only beautiful things. You’ve seen enough dank darkness to last a lifetime.”

Arax took her hand and nodded toward the door. A female came near. Arax scowled at her. “If my daughter, Neola, isn’t looked after properly there will be hell to pay. All you are allowed to do is hold her and play with her when she wakes. She may have dolphin milk but nothing else. If I catch her chewing on a starfish, so help me I’ll have you over a knee. And it won’t be an open hand if I give you to an octopus for a spanking.”

The female blanched as he knew she would. Arax had made his claim. Neola was no longer the infant, the baby, the human child—she was
his
child. Those words alone increased Neola’s rank to higher than anyone on the planet except his. Offspring were valued more than anything on his planet.

“I will keep the little princess, Neola, safe.” The female bowed demurely.

Arax held his hand out to Meadow. She stood, her chin up, her shoulders back. She was a proud female. He had thrust her into a strange, new life.
He
had been thrust into a strange, new life. The council wouldn’t care for these two humans like they would people of his planet. They were important because they were his, but they were his direct responsibility, like the mate and father of any other family.