Epilogue
Tyshar watched as Dah’Ani moved through the rooms of the small house he’d chosen, the one furthest from the main residence. She walked slowly, her arms crossed on her chest as her boot heels clicked along the wood floors.
“It’s nice,” she finally said. “Two bedrooms with their own baths, a living room and tiny kitchen. But that’s probably to be expected since you told me you liked sharing meals with the others.”
He nodded, but his mind wasn’t on her summation of his new living quarters. It was totally on her and the way she made him feel. “I wish for you to take one of the bedrooms while you are here.”
Whipping back to him so fast her blue streaked hair lifted, he realized he’d shocked her by speaking so plainly. But they were at that point, weren’t they? One where they could speak honestly about what was important?
“Erm, Ty—”
“I do not ask this just because of what we are discovering between us. My only thought is of protecting you, being near enough to keep you safe should the need arise.” Half-truths contained at least a kernel of honesty. Or at least that’s what he told himself as he watched her process his words.
She looked around the living room, her gaze landing on various pieces of furniture before it came to rest on him. “Listen, I like you. I like the way we talk, the way we’re getting to know each other.” She took in a deep, audible breath. “And I like the way you kiss and hold me. A lot. Probably more than I should. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna sleep with you.”
Ah, my pretty little pirate, he thought. What I want to do with you absolutely does not include any measure of sleep.
“I understand,” he replied, hoping against hope she couldn’t read the desire in his eyes, his body. “But I still want you near.”
She twisted to look into the kitchen area before looking the other way toward the bedrooms. “You know I’m here to help Leah, right? And just as soon as she delivers the baby, I’m going back to my life in Wayward.”
“You have made that abundantly clear, sairzon. And I have already told you, we are thankful for your help and expertise in ensuring her and the youngling’s safety. That your tra-pa allowed you to come at all is most generous.” He’d slipped up, calling her ‘darling’, the word he used whenever he thought of her.
Which was just about every moment of every day since he’d met her.
“So we’ll share this place fifty-fifty with no monkey business?” Tyshar stepped closer to her at her question; one that gave him hope she might accept his invitation.
He nodded in the way of humans, unwilling to let the lie pass his lips. “I will do nothing you do not want me to do.”
“Then I’ll take the bedroom on the right.” She flung a hand behind her as if to point to the room she’d chosen. “I like waking up to the sun.”
Tyshar moved to her jeilbo and the smaller case of birthing supplies Blythe had sent with them. As he passed next to her though, she stopped him with a light touch on his bicep. A move which made his tailpor lengthen and flex nonetheless.
“Listen, Ty. I don’t mean to be a tease or anything, but I’m…” Her words drifted away and he watched her swallow. “I’m kinda saving myself…for, you know. For my one. Mica flenta marl.”
My cherished groom.
Although he’d always thought the words were Picari, the fact she spoke them properly, reverently even, he knew they were very ancient and of the Baspic language their species all used to use.
Neither of them said anything as he stared into her amazing lavender eyes, her words hitting him hard. Because she was expressing his feelings to a ‘T’. He too didn’t want to join with various partners, somehow knowing to do so would reduce his predestined, holy coupling to nothing more than fleeting physical pleasure.
“I do not think of you as a tease, mica Dah’Ani. And I find your commitment to your future mate commendable.”
But later, as he laid stretched out on the large bed in the room directly opposite hers, Tyshar wondered at the desire he couldn’t control whenever she was near.
He’d never been an overly sexual male, unlike some of his contemporaries. Finding another male with which to assuage any physical need was never to be considered once he’d discovered he could find his release by using his own hand. Nor had he found human women appealing enough to even consider bedding them—what with the chemical smells that surrounded them from the products they used on their hair, under their arms and over their skin.
But his Dah’Ani, his beautiful hybrid pirate, was different. She smelled of the soil and wind in the upper reaches of Galaxia where he’d been born and raised. And, like him, she looked different with her inherited coloring of blue lips and lavender eyes. He knew her nipples and the secret feminine flesh between her legs were likely to be the same dusky color as her mouth. A thought excited him beyond measure.
Because he was different as well, coming from a variant strain which colored his skin a deep tan with reddish undertones. While other Galaxians had light eyes, his were such a dark brown, some called them ‘black’ and he’d taken much teasing from the other males in his class at the academy as a result.
Which was just another indication his former world had fallen into a form of bigotry, where the ‘different’ and the ‘unusual’ were considered suspect within the homogenous whole. It was horrible those thoughts had gone so far as to exclude reintroducing females back into the populace. For Tyshar had found the females of his acquaintance, Rykhan’s Leah, Wyst’s Pam and now Blythe and his own Dah’Ani added a softness, a sweetness, to whatever was going on.
So much so, he wanted the Sulari hybrid as his own. He wasn’t yet sure if she was the one, the blay Tsiran had chosen as his only true mate. But he suspected it. Had an inkling she was the one to complete him.
A soft feminine moan, heard through the walls had him reaching for his already erect and throbbing member. Was she touching herself, rubbing her female parts while thinking of him much as he was her as he stroked his thick, long length? Imagining the gratification which would explode between them if they were naked and entwined?
As he exploded into the tissue he’d reached for in his act of solitary pleasure, Tyshar relaxed back onto the pillow. Tsiran would provide him a mate, the perfect one to complete him, to walk next to him and weather whatever storms they might have to face in their time together.
But if Tyshar had a say, if Tsiran was open to requests about his life and his future, he prayed it would be with Dah’Ani Droos by his side.
*.*.*.*.*
Bronsyn pressed replay on his tresl, re-watching Stege’s latest communiqué in response to his report. There was something about the vid that bothered him. But if he was honest, his old friend’s behavior over the last few weeks was a problem no matter which way he looked at it. The man had become an overblown bully, a lesser version of the friend from his youth, one that was ugly and unacceptable in the scheme of Bronsyn’s original responsibilities.
He’d been recording his reports and sending them in after the fact to ensure he had no face-to-face meeting with his former friend, co-diplomat and co-leader. The fact was, Bronsyn couldn’t face the man. The one who betrayed his trust and sent him and his males to a planet under false pretenses.
But there was something about the latest video that rankled, although Bronsyn couldn’t put a finger to it, on what exactly it was that made his hair stand on end.
“What are you watching, commander?” Arbrynt slapped the stacked plate of sandwiches in the middle of the table before coming to his leader’s side.
“A re-run of Stege’s latest communication,” Bronsyn mumbled. “It bothers me, but I don’t know why.”
Leaning over Bronsyn’s shoulder to stare at the tresl in his commander’s hands, Arbrynt watched and listened as Gwent Stege spewed his hateful vitriol. Maligning not only Bronsyn, but his band of selected warriors. Calling them failures in finding mates or conforming to the latest orders to provide samples of th
eir life essences in the plastic cups Dr. Jyrl had left behind in his bid to establish an operating room in the home they’d secured.
“Didn’t he used to broadcast from the Committee room?”
Bronsyn looked again at the small screen.
At the background behind Stege’s head.
It was different.
“Yes, he did. But this is not the same.” Bronsyn took in the white plastic walls behind Stege’s picture and immediately recognized they were those of a starship.
But Arbrynt was way ahead of him. “He’s on the Seeker. Holy frack, the shithead is on the ship they launched earlier than stated.”
#.#.#.#.#
Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end of Wyst and Pam’s story. Although we both kinda know it’s not the end for them or for Rykhan and Leah.
No more than we can call Bronsyn’s or Ty’s journey as done.
Never mind Arbrynt, Gyard and Laxon’s!
Oh yeah…
There’s doings to be done in the lives of each of these guys, and I don’t know about you, but I’m curious as all get-out about what life has in store for each of the Picari Protectorates.
With this second book in the Mate Search Series I’ve included a dictionary. But I gotta say, it’s flipping weird as hell to realize I’ve kinda created another language. Me. Coming up with some sort of bizarre alien words. I’m a romance writer. Love helping couples find the other half of themselves in the written word.
But the doings of these men from other planets in finding human females to join with, delight in (as Wyst would say)…yeah. No. It’s hard, sweet reader. Very, very hard for me.
Thanks for sticking around to the end.
Although it’s not technically the end.
Ty is up next, as you can probably tell.
And I think his and Dani’s story is gonna be a good one!
~J.A. Hornbuckle
Phoenix, 8/28/16
Picari to English Dictionary
Azjani beautiful
Baspic old language before Picari alliance was formed
Blay bride
Blesod crazy
Coti hair
Der no
Desti/Destu breast/breasts
Dr’ala bar in old Baspic language, a place of samlithpi (protected, safe meeting place)
Frack an expletive which mirrors the English word ‘fuck’ and is used as a noun, pronoun, verb and adverb. When a guy (human/alien/whatever) needs a word to convey strong meaning, let’s face it, a ‘eff’ word works really well!
Gipe a mile or the close proximity in Earth’s measurements
Gremal a derisive term in Picari for a poor person, someone without means
Gyed the Nutrolite goddess known for her bounty in the reproduction of both plants and animals
Hera hour
Jain our
Jeilbo a small suitcase
La yes
Leca little, diminutive
Lesp minute
Mandai morning
Menra mine
Mert month
Mesi they
Mesra me
Mica my
Mycalyte the mental and/or emotional connection between a male and a female who bond. Can happen in advance of formal vows as an indication the warrior has found his one true and legitimate mate. Formal name is Mycalyte Trivajni.
Nadle a pin or needle used for sewing
Plyca family; the highest consideration for a Protectorate. A plyca is the most holiest of unions within Picarian society
Posket hell, or the Picari version thereof
Purvya a type of Nutrolite flower which only grows and produces blooms in the worst weather conditions
Rota a 24 hour rotation of the Earth’s sun over its surface; a day
Sairzon darling
Samlithpi a vital meeting place for warriors on mission. Secure and considered safe by anyone who claims a need
Sani eyes
Tai testicles
Tailpor penis
Tecu lips/mouth
Tersa sweet (although the Picari use this word not so much to describe food as they do to describe the emotional ‘flavor’ of an action)
Tisha own (possessive; as in ‘my own’)
Tragyard Sealing vows that commit two beings to one another (very similar to human marriage vows but with no divorce/separation clause?
Tresl a device that looks like a cell phone, but is loaded with a lot more apps and power
Trivajni a connection or link between two people by way of either thoughts or emotions. It is one of the first signals when a male and female might have a pairing.
Tsiran Galaxian god, known for his protection
Tyad female genitalia; pussy
Ved you
Vedi your
Ven I
Ver we
Wahrom the metal tattoo each Protectorate warrior grows on a part of his body in the middle years of his teen-hood for those lucky enough to be at the academy. It signifies his connection to the deity he worships and how he accepts their control in his destiny.
Wend week
Yon year
J. A. Hornbuckle
If you ask Judy where she grew up, she’ll either tell you, “All over” or “In the backseat of a car” because as a young girl, her family moved a lot due to her dad’s work. But those traveling years didn’t stop when she grew up, and she still loves the adventure of moving to a new place, meeting new people and learning new things.
As an avid, lifelong reader, it wasn’t until her later years that she decided to try her hand at writing. Only to find the process is a LOT harder than it looks, but immeasurably satisfying!
At present, Judy is single and living in Phoenix but as her wanderlust kicks in, who knows where she might be next week or next year? Especially since her full-time job as an author allows her to work from just about anywhere.
Feel free to contact Judy at:
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.jahornbuckle.com or www.broken-girls.com
Twitter: @J A Hornbuckle
Other Books by J.A. Hornbuckle
The Grantham Series
**Pole Dance (Jake and Caitlin)
**Human Hieroglyphix 1 (Dex and Leila)
**Tap Dance (Marianne and Ram)
**Human Hieroglyphix II (Crys and Gabe)
**Bewitchments 1 (Trevor and Zoe)
**A Grantham Christmas (compilation)
**Last Dance (Paul Adler) (coming late 2016/early 2017)
**Bewitchments 2 (Niko and Samantha) (coming 2017)
Stand Alones
**Everybody Falls
**Hiding in Plain Sight (prequel to the Hellions Motorcycle Club series)
**A Dragon’s Promise (sci-fi/paranormal, dragon-shifters)
Hellions Motorcycle Club Series
**The Possibility of Trey
**Reinventing Mel
**Taking a Dare
**A Civilian for Silo
**Checkmate with Bishop
**With Huff (coming late 2016)
Mate Search Series (Sci-Fi Romance)
**Rykhan (full length novel based on the Love Without Boundaries Novella, Mate Search—First Contact, written with M.K Eidem and Michelle Howard)
**Wyst – Book Two in the Mate Search Series
**Tyshar –Book Three in the Mate Search Series (coming early 2017)
Broken Girls Series (with D. P. Fletcher)
**Phoebe – Book One
**Vonnie – Book Two (coming September 2016)
**Tonya – Book Three (coming early 2017)
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