Theron Destiny (Brides of Theron) (17 page)

A pink blushed started to creep up her neck and spread to her face. In a soft voice she answered, “I am fine.” She glanced at his lips and licked her lips so that she could get every last taste of him that lingered there.

“Are you hungry? I was hoping to take you around some of the ship today. We could grab something so eat while we were out.” He turned her in his arms as he spoke so that she was now lying on her back looking up at him while he spoke. “I want to make it up to you for my behavior this past week. I should not have let myself distance myself from you. You are only trying to adjust to your new surroundings as best you can and here I go acting like an ass. I am sorry, little one.”

Avery just laid there underneath this huge alien that she was now mated to for the rest of her life. Her eyes searched for the truth in the words that he spoke to her. The ice around her heart thawed more and more as she listened to this gentle giant. She was no longer seeing a life with him as a punishment of some sort but as a new beginning. Could they truly be happy together? How would life on another planet be? Would the rest of his family accept an earth woman as the mate of one of their own? The questions kept running through her mind as she lay there looking up into the face of the man that would die for her.

She took a deep breath and smiled, “I would like all of that very much, especially the eating part.” Zeb let out a deep laugh and gave her a quick kiss, “Then food it is. Come, let us start the day.” Rolling out the bed Zeb walked into the bathroom. Avery slid out the bed on the opposite side and paddled her way to the wardrobe that contained her clothes. She pulled out a pair of jeans and red t-shirt. While she was dressing something furry rubbed against her leg. Looking down she saw her little rewa anxiously waiting to be picked up and held.

“Hi there my little guy. How are you this morning?” She rubbed her face into Knox’s fur and he gave her a tiny lick on her cheek. She let out a giggle just as Zeb stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards her. Knox let out a small squeak as Zeb approach them while his three eyes opened wide and started. Avery wasn’t sure if Knox was scared of Zeb or fascinated by him.

Zeb stretched out one finger and let the rewa sniff him before he attempted to pet the creature. “What might your name be little rewa?” That large finger was now scratching under the rewa’s chin and a low purring sound could be heard coming from him.

“His name is Knox.” Avery giggled at the rewa that seemed to be leaving his impression on the warrior standing there petting him. Without warning Knox leapt out of Avery’s hands and into the hands of his new friend, purring even louder than before.

“It seems as if you have a new friend too.”

One big hand was slowly rubbing the rewa’s head, “Sure does.” Zeb smiled down at the creature that was purring so loudly he could feel it vibrating up his arms. “Are you ready to go?”

“Sure let’s go. Where are you going to take me?” Avery was a bit excited now about going to parts of the ship she hasn’t been before. The last two weeks had dragged by with nothing to do except in this apartment.

Zeb placed Knox back on the floor and lead Avery out the bedroom and to the front door of their quarters. “Well, I thought first we would go get down in the market area and then go through some of the shops and get you some things.” Zeb talked about their plans as they headed down the corridor to the transportation tubes. “The rest we can just play by ear.”

Reaching the tubes, Zeb opened the door, stepped in and quickly pulled Avery in making sure that her body remained pressed up against his. The transportation tube’s voice asked for their destination but Zeb ignored its request. Instead his hand found Avery’s chin and tilted it upwards so that her eyes were locked onto his. He wanted her to see that the passion he had felt for her last night was still burning. He pressed his mouth to hers and quickly gained entrance to her sweet mouth. He let a low growl escape into her mouth as his other hand covered her breast, stroking the hard nipple that he could feel through her shirt.

Again the voice asked for the destination and again Zeb ignored it. He slowly released her mouth, “Gods I want you again. I want to take you right here.” He watched as her eyes widened in surprise at his comment and gave a deep laugh, “Don’t worry my little earth one. I plan on tasting you again once we return from our adventure. For now though, I think I had better give our destination before we get booted out the tube. Take us to the market.” With the command given the tube began its journey through the tube system and brought them to their destination in a matter of moments. The door slid open and the noise of the market came flooding into the tube.

The market was filled with warriors and other people that lived on the ship. Tables were filled with those eating breakfast and talking with companions, some sat on the sofas reading. Here and there someone would look up to see who was walking by but would quickly resume their activity. Since Avery didn’t get to spend much time here the first and only time she was here, she took in all that she could see. It still amazed her that the ship was probably big enough to put one of earth’s smaller cities into and still have room. They walked towards the first few stores when suddenly she heard her name being called but wasn’t sure where it was coming from.

“Lady Avery! Lady Avery!” Stepping from the pet store was the alien whom she had gotten Knox from the last time she was here.

“Ganna it is so nice to see you again.” Avery gave her new friend a big smile as she and Zeb approached.

“I am pleased to see you again too. How is your little rewa doing?” Ganna returned her smile and looked at her eagerly awaiting her reply.

Avery smiled even bigger at the thought of Knox, “Oh Ganna, he is doing so good. He loves to eat and play. He even made a new friend this morning.” Her eyes rolled towards Zeb as her head gave a slight nod to the left. “I think Knox really likes this big guy. He jumped out of my hands and into his. Ganna, I can’t thank you enough for him.”

Ganna took a deep breath and straightened his back as much as he could, looking extremely satisfied with himself. The compliment she had just given him would float his ego for a week. “It was my pleasure, Lady Avery. If there is ever anything I can do for you, my first Earth friend, you let me know.” With that Ganna gave her bow and looked at Zeb, “You have a very special mate Commander, and it is an honor to have her as my friend. Take care of her. Now I must get back to my shop.”

“Bye Ganna. Maybe we will stop in your shop later to pick something up for Knox and Books.” Avery waved as she and Zeb started to walk down the mall towards the food area when she asked him, “Where are we going to go now?”

Zeb looked down at his little female and smiled, “What store would you like to go into? I will just follow your lead.” He turned and made a slight bow and flourish of his arm that was telling her to lead the way. She smiled at him and took her place in front of him. The next store window held items she really wasn’t sure the identity of or what they were used for. She had stared at the window and glanced at the items within but nothing really held her interest so she decided to move on. A few stores down the way seemed to be more of interest to her since she could see clothing in the front windows. As she approached one of the stores there was one particular item that got her undivided attention.

It was the most beautiful dark green color she had ever seen before. She stood there staring at it when she felt Zeb take hold of her hand “Would you like to go in and see the dress?” He watched her as she looked back from him to the dress in the window.

“Yes, I would like that very much.”

“Come and let us go see if you like it.” He tugged on her hand as he made his way into the store. As they entered the store, the clerk who was rather odd looking to Avery, approached them.
              “How may I help you Commander?” The clerk looked Avery up and down and then back to Zeb. “Is this one of the Earth females I have heard so much about?”

“Zeta this is Avery, my mate, and yes she is from Earth. She would like to see about the green dress in the window.”

The clerk gave a bow to Avery “It is a pleasure to meet you Avery. I am Zeta and am very pleased to meet and serve you. The item that you wish to see is a unique item and I believe that you will love it. Let me retrieve it for you.” Zeta moved to the window and removed the dress. “Here you are my lady. Would you like to try it on?”

Avery moved closer to Zeta and reached out to feel the material of the dress. It was the softest material she had ever felt in her life. Nothing on earth could compare to it. “What is it made out of?” Avery gave Zeta a questioning glance as she took the dress from his hands.

“It is made from a material that is produced on my home planet. The Therons are gracious enough to trade with my planet and I was allowed to come aboard their ship and set up a shop in order to sell our products. I have several other pieces that you may like but as I can see from the look in your eyes that you do not have any desire to see anything else.” Zeta let out a laugh and showed Avery the way to the dressing room.

Once inside the dressing room Avery held the dress up in front of herself and looked in the mirror. Now that she had it up against her, she wasn’t quite sure if it was a dress or a nightgown. The dress had tiny spaghetti straps that crisscrossed in the back. The front was some sort of fine lace that would cover her breasts yet could be seen through. The gown fell to right above her knees and had a slit all the way up to her hip. Without a second thought she got undressed and then slipped the gown over her head and turned to look at herself in the mirror.

“Wow” was the only word that softly escaped from her lips. She turned and looked at herself from every possible view. The dark green of the gown made her hazel eyes really come alive.

“Avery, are you alright in there?” Avery heard Zeb’s voice come through the door of the dressing room. She quickly pulled the gown back over her head and answered, “Yes I am fine. I will be out in a minute.”

She finished dressing and opened the door to find Zeb leaning against the wall. “Did you like the dress?”

“I love it.” She smiled up at him.

Zeb pushed off the wall and drew her into his arms, “Good, then it is yours. Let’s go pay Zeta and then grab something to eat. I am starved.”

After Zeb paid Zeta for the gown they headed to the eating area. Warriors and other ship personnel filled the tables that were scattered throughout the dining area. Some stopped what they were doing to stare at Avery or to see who was mated to the Commander of their ship. They had all heard that the Commander had taken an earth female as his mate and were curious to see what she looked like.

Zeb lead them to a table that was near a fountain that sat in a corner of the dining area. He pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit, “Wait here and I will get us something to eat.”

As she sat waiting for Zeb to return, Avery looked all around her. There was just so much to take in. It was hard to believe that she was actually on a space ship rather than in the food court of the mall in her home town. She searched the crowd for signs of Zeb and found him waiting at a counter. He was facing toward her so that he could see her. She had a distinct feeling that he didn’t like her being alone with so many others near. She looked back towards the fountain and froze. There, sitting not even ten feet away from her was Lars staring at her. The look on his face sent chills down her spine.  Despite her fear she was too afraid to look away. The eye socket that she had injured was now covered up with a patch.  From his good eye she could see pure hatred emanating from it.

She looked back to where Zeb had been standing and saw that he was no longer facing her but was talking to someone she hadn’t encountered before. Quickly whipping her head back around, she found that Lars had moved closer to her and was now in a much closer proximity to her than she liked. She knew that Lars was extremely dangerous from what she had heard from Zeb. Not to mention, adding fuel to the fire, she had been the one who had caused him to lose his eye.

“Hello there, Earth bitch.” Lars glared at her as he said the words at a volume for only her ears. “All alone again are you? Has your protector tired of you already that he has left you without his protection? Shall I protect you while he is away?” He shifted his chair pulling it even closer to her. She was speechless with fear and couldn’t form the words to tell him to stay away. Her eyes were glued to the alien that had every intent of hurting her if he ever got the chance. She started to hyperventilate and her breathing came in fast small gasps and her hands began to shake. Where the hell was Zeb?

She watched as Lars made his move to get up from the chair that he was sitting in. It was as if everyone disappeared around her and nothing else around her mattered at that particular moment in time.  She held her breath as the chair scraped against the tiles on the floor. Her skin began to crawl from fear and her heart pounded as if it were about to explode at that moment in her chest.

She immediately came back to her senses when she finally heard a familiar voice. “Lars, shouldn’t you be reporting for duty?” Zeb stood next to the table positioning his body between them, blocking her from Lars’ view.

Lars stared back at the one person who stood in his way of getting even with that Earth bitch. “You shouldn’t leave your mate alone Commander. You wouldn’t want something to happen to her, would you?” With that said, Lars walked past their table and gave Avery one final glance that promised that this wasn’t over.

Zeb watched as Lars made his way through the dining area and to the transportation tubes. He realized that he had let his guard down for just a few moments while he spoke to one of the council members allowing Lars to get within a few feet of Avery. He needed to check into why the orders for Lars’ transfer were taking so long. Avery would not be safe until Lars was off the ship permanently.

He sat down next to Avery and looked her in the face. What he saw made him clench his fists. She had the look of a trapped animal waiting for slaughter. Her face was drained of all color and her hands shook violently. He placed his larger hands over hers and spoke in a low reassuring voice, “Avery. Look at me.” She turned her head in slow motion until her eyes came to rest on his familiar face. “He is gone now. I will not let him hurt you. I swear on my life.”