She laughed out loud, “One time my mom was all dressed for church in a light blue dress with lace around the collar, her favorite. My father knocked on the door dressed for school with his books under one arm and his Star Wars lunch box in the other. She said he was wearing a plaid shirt with brown, red, and light blue lines and a pair of brown corduroy pants. His brown hair was wet and his cowlicks that would typically stick up no matter what he did, were combed down and away from his big brown eyes. No matter how much water he used to keep it down, he always had that one cowlick in the back that would eventually stand up as it dried. When he asked her if she was ready to go to school, she told him it was Sunday. Without a word, he stalked off back to his house. He returned bright and early Monday morning to walk her to school the next day like nothing ever happened. I think that he just wanted to be near her as much as possible. He would say that she was his first thought every morning and the last thought before he went to bed. If she stayed late at school, he waited for her. They ended up being high school sweethearts and married right after graduation. I came about a year later.”
“Did he ever date anyone else?” Ceran asked.
“No. He always said that she owned the key to his heart the moment he saw her for the first time. Can you believe they were only three when she moved into the neighborhood? After graduation, he proposed, he said,” and she thought a moment before continuing, “There isn’t anyone in this world that makes me feel the way you do. Please do me a great honor and marry me, because I never want to know what it is like to live without you.” She let the memory of her father retelling this story over and over again. She could even hear his voice in her head as she said the words aloud. This story was forever engraved in her heart. He would tell it to her every night before he kissed her goodnight. She never grew tired of hearing it.
“I think I know exactly what he means,” he looked at her then. His face was growing red and he shifted awkwardly in his seat, “I know for a fact that there was no one on this planet that ever made me feel like you do. I had to go all the way to Earth to find you. I can’t even express to you how glad I am that you are here with me now.”
She could feel the heat rise in her face as the blood rushed to fill the tiny capillaries just under the surface of her skin. It was hard to ignore the flutter of her heart and the rush of blood pumping madly throughout her body whenever he was near. Her traitorous body gave proof that she was very attracted to the man sitting in front of her. She had never had a relationship with a man. Come to think of it, the only kissing experience she had besides the not so intimate kisses she shared with Ceran occurred at a birthday party at a cousin’s house as a teenager. Her cousin Tina was a popular girl and Laura was certainly not included in her cousin’s social sphere. She envisioned the scene from one of her recurring nightmares.
Tina had pleaded with her mother and father for Laura, to be excluded, but her aunt and uncle said because Laura was the same age as Tina she had to be...
All of the kids looked and stared at her as she walked down the steps into the basement. They traded barbed whispers and comments about how unfair it was that Tina’s parents forced her to invite Laura to the party as she walked by them. An hour after she had arrived it was as if she were invisible. Anna, who was a pretty, petite red-headed girl, suggested that they all play spin the bottle. She could tell that Anna had a crush on Jeff. Who didn’t? He was a head taller than the other boys with wide shoulders, narrow hips, dark hair, and green eyes. He had full lips that would tilt up on one side when he was amused. She was pushed toward the circle and down to the floor. Tina grabbed her upper arm tightly as Laura sat whispering in her ear a threat that she better not embarrass her.
After Laura had been situated among them within a circle, Tina turned up the radio to keep her parents from coming in. The music blared from the speakers of the stereo tuned to the current favorite local rock station. Anna placed a soda bottle in the middle of the circle and Tina sat down beside her. Laura sat there quietly to keep from drawing attention to herself praying and hoping that the bottle would not land on her.
She wished that she would continue to remain invisible. When Jeff reached for the bottle and give it a spin, she watched in horror as the bottle started to slow down. Her heart thumped in her chest for each second the bottle made its way around. Time seemed to slow down as she watched it make revolution after revolution until it finally came to rest with the cap pointed directly at her. She could hear only her pulse in her ears as the sound of the music fell away with the pure terror of the moment settling over her. Her cousin warned her, so she knew that she would have to follow through with whatever happened in the basement that night, her personal feelings aside.
The room became suddenly quiet as all eyes were on her. She heard a few of the girls snicker around her, probably because they were jealous that it was not them that the bottle had selected. Maybe, it was because they were just like her cousin, clueless.
Laura’s palms were sweaty and she was so nervous. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure that the rest of them could hear it beating. She had never kissed a boy before. It started easy enough just a touch of the lips. But when he tried to stick his tongue into her mouth, her reaction to this kiss began yet another wave of teasing from her peers that she had to endure until she would leave Camden for good. From that point on, she stopped caring what others thought about her. She virtually blocked herself off from them everyone emotionally and physically. Her only comfort was that she would be in college next year, far away from all of them. Odds were that they would all be stuck in this small town for the rest of their lives.
“Ceran, I really appreciate how you are so patient with me. All of this relationship stuff is new to me. I feel the flutter of my heart and butterflies in my belly every time I look at you. Just the idea of saying that to you is making me really uncomfortable right now. I guess I just haven’t ever had much luck with guys. I always tend to say the wrong thing. Sometimes, I get all tongue-tied and embarrass myself in the process, or I find that I can’t say anything at all. You are the only man I have ever been able to speak to like this,” she clasped her hands together on her book and looked down at them. No matter what she did to try to escape those taunting voices in her head, they would resurface from time to time to torment her. Would it ever end? Could she ever escape the cruel taunts of her past? “On my planet the kids were really mean to me. You see, I was not the typical kid and I went to college really young. I was essentially jail bait until medical school. By then I was too busy studying to even think about dating anyone. I guess that is one sure way to graduate at the top of the class early. I was even awarded a residency in a very competitive program at 22 years old.”
“How could anyone treat you so badly?” Ceran said as he moved next to her on the sofa taking her hands in his. “I could not imagine a more kind and gentle creature than you.”
“People tend to throw stones at things they don’t understand.” She put the book on the lampstand and moved to sit beside him on the couch. “Well, that is how my dad would say it when I had a rough day at school, which was almost every day until I left for college. Even though, I would keep my mouth shut, everyone including the teachers knew that I was smarter than them. I would get these looks after they graded my test papers as if they didn’t get why God made me so smart. Sometimes I think that maybe they were afraid of me. When they would start to attack, I would withdraw. When I did, they would feed on my reactions and tease me harder.”
“Even if I could go back and do it all again, I don’t think I would have done anything differently. If I did, I might not have found you. Somehow, I always knew that there was a purpose for me bigger than I could ever imagine. I had just never realized that it wasn’t on earth.” She looked into his eyes and said, “If there is one thing that I am sure of, it’s that I’m supposed to be here…with you.” She could hear the tremble in her voice as she said those last two words.
She knew
if she acknowledged her feelings out loud and in the open, the status of their relationship would change. They wouldn’t be terrible changes, of course. It would be crossing over into unknown territory. She knew full well how sex worked, even had the experience of delivering a baby or two, but that did not mean that she wasn’t scared of “IT.” She did not know how all those different sensations of pain and pleasure and God only knew what else would affect her? That right there was the biggest mystery. How she would change after the deed was done was probably the one that she was most terrified of.
They were silent for a moment. She could hear the small noises in the room, the rustling of the leaves that hung in the branches of the house just outside the open balcony doors, the friction of her clothes as she fidgeted. They seemed to be waiting for the next words between them to be spoken. Her damp hair was moving slightly in the cool breeze that was coming from outside and was tickling the skin on her shoulders. She noticed the natural golden highlights of his short dirty blond hair accented by the soft glow of the lamp on the table beside him. Slowly her gaze moved from his hair to his blue eyes. They were such a rich color of royal blue, like dark sapphires. His nose was long and thin balancing out his oval face. His ears perfect with attached lobes. His soft, moist rose-tinted lips were full and inviting.
It was if it was all happening in slow motion. His gaze was hypnotic. She found herself leaning toward him just like attracted magnets until the moment their lips touched. It was as if someone turned on the heat. She closed her eyes and felt him place his palm gently on her jaw, his thumb softly grazing her cheek. The air got thick and dense, almost too hard to breathe in. She opened her mouth, maybe at first to take a breath, but he took full advantage. He slowly inserted his tongue into her mouth and something innate in her responded. To her surprise, she let him in and caressed his tongue with her own. It was like every nerve in her body had been over stimulated and silenced. Even if she was on fire, she doubted that she would feel the licks of the flame on her skin. He kissed her until she was breathless.
Touching his lips to hers once more, she felt herself go limp in his arms as he finished the kiss. To her surprise, he rose from the sofa and dropped to one knee in front of her. She looked at him curiously as he reached into his pocket fumbling for something inside. He pulled out a golden ring with several large diamonds and held it out for her to see. His voice was sure and steady, “Laura, I never want to know what my life would be like without you. Will you marry me?”
She looked at him and said, “Yes, Ceran I will marry you.” She offered him her left hand and he slipped the ring on her finger as the tears started to fall. The ring had fit her perfectly.
“Is everything alright? I had no intention of making you upset.” His hand found her jaw and she laughed nervously as he wiped away the tears.
“You didn’t make me upset. I just wasn’t expecting you to do that. Was it Grace?” She asked.
“Well, maybe a little bit. She did offer the rings and some small details. I just wanted to do this right,” He pulled the other rings out of his pocket and showed them to her. “I just thought that maybe following a tradition that you were familiar with would make it easier for you. So I asked Grace to tell me what couples did when they fell in love on Earth. I love you, Laura.”
There were no words. For once in her life, everything went silent. There was only him and her in this room as she felt herself gravitate to him once more. When she finished kissing him, she closed her eyes and committed every feeling and every detail of the kisses they shared tonight to her memory. Before this night, she always had associated a kiss as a terrible event that took place in her Cousin Tina’s basement. Now, she could officially file away that memory in some dark cubby in her mind, replacing it with what she experienced tonight with her fiancée. She rested her forehead against his and took a deep breath as she opened her eyes and looked into his. “As much as I am enjoying this, we can’t do this tonight. I really need to get to bed. I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow.”
“But, I don’t want to stop,” Ceran whispered honestly as he looked her in the eyes. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her cheek as he ran his fingers through her long straight golden blond hair. She couldn’t help but notice he was disappointed they wouldn’t move this into the bedroom tonight. She was a virgin and so was he. She would not commit herself to proceed any further until she was ready to. She wasn’t ready, not tonight.
“Ceran, we have to stop. I’m not prepared to go any further than this. I probably will be soon, but we can’t do this tonight.” She closed her eyes. She shook her head, her temple against his, and thought about whether she should change her mind. She could feel her body calling for him deep inside. She knew that the time was nearing to let herself go. It wouldn’t be long before she would not be able to hold back her feelings for him any longer. It would be a long day tomorrow with her clinical rounds and Lars. She looked into his eyes and saw the longing for her. She swallowed hard and said, “We will have plenty of time. A lifetime together, right?”
He smiled and nodded, “A lifetime if you will have me. I want you to know that I’d wait forever for you.” He kissed her palm and said, “I guess we should go to bed then.”
“Yeah, we should. Good night Ceran.”
“Good night, Laura.”
She kissed him on the forehead letting her lips linger a bit longer than was necessary, stood up and made her way up to her room and closing the door behind her. With her back pressed against the smooth polished wood of the door, she slid down to the floor and took a deep breath. Her body was telling her that she was wrong, traitorous even. It was telling her that she should go find Ceran and let him take her to his bed. If she weren’t so afraid, she would have gotten up off the floor and went to him. She spoke to nobody, in particular, “I am going to have to talk to Emma or Grace.” She would find out from something other than a book what to expect when making love to a man.
Ceran had asked Zane not long after meeting Laura about sex. He knew that his occupation as a doctor meant that the conversation that occurred between them was sworn to secrecy. Zane gave him a rundown of facts offered in a sex education class he took in academy when he was a young man. However, this wasn’t the information Ceran was looking for. What he was wondering about specifically was how to bring your mate pleasure. It could not be as simple as the description that he gave about inserting this part into that one and moving it in and out. Zane assured him that he would know what to do and that his body would guide him in the process. He told Ceran that the act, of pleasuring each other, would be something that he Laura would learn together through practice and careful observation. Ceran should take note of what his partner did and didn’t like, where she liked to be touched. They would both have to listen to what they were asking from each other. He told Ceran, not to overanalyze it, but to relax and go with it. “Trust me. Your body will tell you what to do.”
He was optimistic. It looked like whatever he did tonight was working. He was dismantling the wall that separated them as individuals and rebuilding one to surround them both. It was going well. He could tell that she enjoyed being with him. Soon, he would have her and they would be bonded together forever. He would just pray to the Gods that he would not have to wait much longer. He really wanted her and parts of his body ached for her touch. Another reason for his haste was that she was not entirely safe from other warriors until they were bonded to each other. He couldn’t bear lose her now. He loved her way too much.
Chapter 3
Ceran woke up to his alarm and stepped out of his room to knock on Laura’s door just like he did every morning. He went to go get dressed and make breakfast for the two of them after she yelled that she was up. Last night was torture. He felt like he was going through puberty again as he woke up with his sheets all wet with his seed. He couldn’t believe that he actually had to deal with wet dreams at this stage of his life. He focused on making them
breakfast and toasting some bread. He had to take his mind off the vivid images from his dream last night. He pictured her in his arms crying out her pleasure, calling out his name over and over again, with a look in her eyes that said that she wanted more. He shifted his growing member in his pants and willed it to behave.
Distractedly, he turned toward the door as Laura entered the kitchen with her hair up in a bun of sorts, all pulled away from her face except for the thin layer of bangs that covered her forehead. She absentmindedly tucked a long, stray lock behind her ear as she walked in. Laura was tall and fit from running with him several nights a week. She was dressed in the hospital uniform that was very similar to the scrubs she wore at home. But, she said that these fit so much better, and the material was so much softer and comfortable. She had her transmitter clipped to the front pocket of her white coat that had her name embroidered in both the Theron script and those from earth on the upper left side just over her breast. She removed her transmitter from her pocket, pressed the button, and called in to check on Lars and Emma’s status. The hospital staff reported that Lars was still sleeping, but it looked like he would wake soon, and Emma was getting stronger by the minute. They ate breakfast, small talk filling in the silence.
One thing continued to puzzle Ceran as he set the plates out on the table. “Why would Lars want to come here? He has to be aware that the warriors on this planet would immediately put him to death. His arrival on Theron makes absolutely no sense,” Ceran said. “Did Zane say anything about it?”
“Zane didn’t say much really. I think that he wants to know the answer to the same question. I was only approached with the decision to put him in my care. With the opinion of the Theron warriors as a whole, Lars would never get the care he is entitled to and I am the only one of Zane’s staff who will be able to do it. Ceran, I accepted this order from Zane. I took an oath in medical school, the Hippocratic Oath. This oath maintains that I will do no harm to any of my patients. When I give them treatment, I will act both honorably and ethically no matter who they are or what they have done.” She was giving him a reassuring smile, and it seemed to have worked. Gods, she was beautiful.
The Theron Residency (Brides of Theron Book 4) Page 4
