by Beth Sadler
Chapter 6
Triena’s eyes flew open as her com-watch beeped out the time. Slipping out of the silky shift that she’d slept in, she gazed out of her bedroom window, taking in the wonderful view of sand and sea before eagerly making her way into the shower.
Today she would see Jethro again, he was right here, in the unit above this one. Her need to watch his sexy, green eyes, light up in his hard, handsome face, almost choking her breath. “Hail Hera” how she desired him, she wanted to warm her fingers in his curly, dark red hair, gaze into his luminous eyes. What wonderful colouring he and Tasha had, not the boring black hair and blue eyes of all Teeronites.
Thirty minutes later, dressed casually in jeans and a top, with breakfast well behind her, she nervously waited for Jethro to knock on her front door. What was keeping him?
She had sent Teril a message last night informing him that she had arrived at the apartments. A transporter had been leaving the pod for the Antarctic and had given her a ride to a darkened beach a few kilometres away; she had easily run the distance to the unit from there. Sending Teril an update he had replied informing her as to what time Jethro would pick her up.
She and Teril had been assigned this ground floor unit as their base on this tour of duty. However, since tracking down Tasha the man was never here, he happily spent all of his free time with Tasha; planning the wedding that was only a few days away now. Triena was beginning to understand the appeal; she wouldn’t stray far from Jethro if she had the choice.
Teril didn’t appear to be in the apartment so he had obviously got an even earlier start than her so, no chance of asking him what was in store for her today. A sharp knock sounded on the door startling her even though she had been impatiently waiting for it.
“Hustle up gorgeous, we’ve got a lot to do today, don’t waste time primping and preening” Jethro’s laughing voice reached through the door, setting her stomach churning and her heart pounding. “Hail Hera” she was a nervous wreck already.
“Don’t bellow, I’m coming,” she replied as her fingers turned the lock on the door.
Jethro stood in the doorway a glint gleaming in his mischievous eyes. “Hello beautiful, let’s hit the road, no time to waste if Teril is to impress my sister with his wedding gift.”
Swooping in, he hugged her close and planted a warm kiss on her soft lips. Handing her a thumb drive with one hand he wrapped his other around her shoulders and, slamming her door shut, dragged her to a jeep that he casually mentioned he kept stored with Tasha. Triena barely had time to gather her thoughts; apparently the man was in a hurry to look at horses.
“Teril says you’re able to access the data on this drive so, hopefully you can find me the best stallion matches with the mares that I’ve lined up for us to see today. I spent hours last night talking to old friends who bought some of our stock and others that have continued the bloodlines and improving them, we have appointments all day.”
Jethro slammed the Jeep onto the road and eagerly flattened the accelerator. The man had plans and obviously couldn’t wait to get started. Triena wondered wryly how she would be able to get his attention today.
“Where do you want me to go while you look at the horses?” Jethro turned stunned eyes in her direction.
“What do you mean? You’ll be with me all the time. I need your input to narrow the field before I make my final decisions.” Jethro pointed at the thumb drive he’d given her. “I loaded the ‘Standard of Excellence’ onto there. That will tell you what I’m aiming for. I can pick a good horse by its looks but, that doesn’t mean it will throw a good foal. Your expertise and genetic programs should enable me to make the best selection in the shortest time.” Triena finally relaxed, she now had all day to decide how to woo him.
Triena strode over one more hill; the latest in a long line of hills that she had walked over in the last five hours, and gazed at another Arab mare, the latest in a long line of mares. Sadly, these beautiful creatures were starting to become one large blur in her memory. How Jethro kept going with such obvious enthusiasm was beyond her.
Triena was prepared to love these gorgeous creatures; she just needed time to get accustomed to them. Their size and spirit were unique in her experience. On Teeron the largest animal they had was a Daron. A four legged animal that strongly resembled Earth’s deer in shape and colour but, being slightly heavier in size. They ran wild in the forests of Teeron, safe from the vegetarian humans.
She caught up to Jethro as he once again walked straight up to the mare he had selected to view. She didn’t move away or appear afraid; in fact she walked up and nuzzled Jethro’s hand as he crooned silly nonsense to her. Triena was intrigued by the animal’s behaviour, she might not know anything about the conformation of Arabs but, she knew this wasn’t normal horse behaviour. Jethro had walked straight up to every horse they had looked at today and none had moved away from him.
Jethro carried on inspecting the beautiful bay mare with the big wide spaced eyes and swan like neck, running his hands over her back and down her legs, lifting each hoof to check for any problems, all without bothering to put on a halter. The owner just shook his head in disbelief at how calm she was.
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself. I don’t know anyone else who can walk straight up to this mare. I told you on the phone I needed time to catch her; we usually have to run the whole mob up the hill and into the yards to get close to her. She’s a beauty but, usually a nightmare to catch, that’s why I offered her for sale. I haven’t got the time to spend on problem horses.”
Jethro just smiled innocently over at Triena as he asked her to check the bloodlines and availability of compatible frozen semen.
It was no surprise to him that he had been able to catch her. He had inherited another gift from his Teeron ancestor, besides the one for languages, one only he and Tasha knew about. If he was one-on-one with a human or animal he could control their thoughts. He just needed his subject to be relaxed before he tuned into them. He’d contacted this mare before they even came over the brow of the hill; she’d been happily waiting for him.
“We’ll wait to breed the mares, give them a few months to settle down and adjust to the change in feed.” He spoke to Jeff, the owner, as he waited patiently for Triena to work the ereader-like device that she carried with her. His arm casually around the mare’s neck, they both waited for her decision.
The com-pad was apparently powerful enough to access international data because in only a few seconds she looked up smiling in success.
“Compatible semen is available in the USA; it can be acquired in your time frame.” Jethro smiled and clucking to the mare got her to walk alongside them back to the stables.
Jethro turned to Jeff holding out his hand to the other man. “It’s a deal, shake on it and I’ll yard her for you. I’ve arranged agistment on a friend’s property near Nerang so I’ll pick her up and the other two we’ve decided on, in the next couple of days.”
“Good luck with her. I’ll look forward to seeing her offspring at the shows.”
Jethro roared with laughter and wrapping his arm around Triena’s slender waist; hugged her close to share the joke.
“I hope you do but, my sister is moving overseas so these horses will only be shown outside of Australia.”
Triena basked in the happy glow emanating from Jethro. She took the opportunity to snuggle in close and feel the warmth of his body soak into her skin. “Hail Hera” love was the most amazing feeling. How she needed to get on with the courting of Jethro James.
