Love Without Boundaries

by Michelle Howard

  “I have asked that it be secured in the storage area here on the Searcher,” he replied as his eyes followed her movements while she stretched out on the bed. “You will have your things with you on Nutrol, my Leah.”

  Draping an arm over her eyes, Leah yawned. “I appreciate it, Rykhan.” She didn’t use to be someone that needed to nap but over the course of the last few days, she found herself getting sleepy right about mid-day. “Give me a half-hour, baby, and we can review the updates.”

  She felt Rykhan’s fingers stroke her toes as he moved by her to get to their cleansing unit. “Take as long as you need, mica tersa.”

  ....*

  “I like the whole, ‘lady lounging around’ look you’ve got going,” Pam muttered, her eyes roaming over the linen tunic and leggings that Leah been given by Captain Pryntal after being released from the med bay.

  “You’re just jealous because I’m comfortable while your ass is bitching about the tight jeans you poured yourself into,” Leah shot back as she emptied the cooler Pam had brought with her. Turning to the thermal bag and reaching for its zipper, she let her gaze rest on her friend. “I can’t fit into my regular clothes anymore.”

  Pam’s expression appeared shocked. “Seriously? I mean I know I’m bringing you good eats and that you can’t really work out in this place…”

  Pulling the tunic tight over her stomach, Leah showed off her baby bump. A sight so startling that it left Pam speechless for more than a few seconds.

  “But…but,” Pam took a deep breath, her eyebrows pinched together as she stared. “It’s only been a couple of weeks! So how come you look like you’re already four months along?”

  Leah shrugged and turned back to the containers. Every afternoon, Pam brought up both a cooler and thermal case full of what Rykhan called ‘Earth food’. But Leah knew he was only teasing since he’d witnessed the many times she tried to consume what was served onboard but was unable to keep any of it down.

  Plus having Pam bring it meant that she got to visit with her friend daily. And the hour or so they spent together gave them the opportunity to add to their documentation regarding the warrior’s continuing efforts in their quest to find a mate. Not to mention to engage in the gossip they would never allow the men in the group to overhear.

  “So I think I’m a little bit closer to getting the 4-1-1 on Wyst’ black eye, the bastard.” Pam had already relayed that in the morning following Leah’s collapse, Wyst came to breakfast with a black and swollen eye.

  “Is he still acting like a whipped puppy?”

  “Shit, yeah. And I ain’t complaining about that in the least!” Pam’s giggle made Leah smile. “Though I don’t know who did it, I found out the ‘why’ this morning. And it has to do with you, the tresl and your accident.”

  Leah’s hands stuttered on the box of cereal she was removing before she blinked and continued putting it into one of the built in cupboards. She didn’t like thinking about that time and found it hard to make her lips move as she encouraged her friend to, “go on”.

  “I already know I didn’t see it, but a couple of the boys did and have been letting what they witnessed out in tiny, cryptic bits at a time. Remember when I told you that it was Wyst’s communication device that you picked up? Well, the latest thing I overheard was from Brent’s own lips although he didn’t know I was in the laundry room at the time. Much less that I could hear everything he was saying to Ty.”

  Brent, who Leah still called by his Galaxi name of Arbrynt, had come up to the Searcher to visit a couple of times since she’d been in residence, although he acted very formal and was careful to ensure Rykhan was always in attendance.

  “It seems whoever performed said smack-down did it fast, hard and angrily which you know is against the Picari Alliance code for warriors in the Protectorate. Well, I guess Brent asked the badass who laid Wyst’s ass out flat for a chance to participate in ‘serving out justice’. And was singularly turned down.” Pam heaved a sigh. “Isn’t that romantic?”

  Leah speared her friend with a look of disbelief. “Romantic?”

  “Yeah. Because our Brent is such a smitten kitten!”

  “No, he’s not,” Leah denied Pam’s words and included a head shake for emphasis.

  Pam’s laughter rang out around the room. “That’s what you think, friend o’ mine. Because from what I heard, if you weren’t wearing Rykhan’s symbol, then Brent would challenge him for the right to pair with you.”

  “That is totally not true!”

  “It sure is!” Pam crowed to the ceiling as she continued to chortle while Leah tried to ignore her friend. Leah had always suspected Brent watched her a little more closely than the other warriors did, but she’d thought it was because she confused him, not because he had a crush!

  As Leah finished the unpacking, she moved to her laptop. “If you’re done giving me shit, why don’t we review this stuff and see which warrior has what going on for this weekend.”

  “Coward!” Pam huffed, easing herself into the chair at the desk.

  “Troublemaker!” came the immediate reply.

  But both were smiling as Pam’s fingers hit the keyboard.

  ....*

  Rykhan had always tried to be tender with his Leah when he took her. Although sometimes the excitement between them, especially when their wahroms were engaged, made it difficult if not downright impossible to keep from pounding into her when the heat was on him.

  But with the knowledge of his youngling that grew in her belly, he’d become even more mindful. Something that Leah was beginning to voice her dissatisfaction over. “Harder, baby,” she urged as she twisted to look behind him. “I need you to go faster and harder!”

  Forgoing words, Rykhan picked her up by her hips and turned her over onto her back before quickly burrowing his face between her legs and sliding two large fingers inside. From her immediate reaction, he realized it had been the right move. She was arched up, her hands grasping at the coverlet as his tongue and lips teased and tormented the sensitive knot at the top of her sex even as he added another finger to completely fill her wet and throbbing channel.

  And the sounds she made. Oh Tsiran, the moans that escaped her as he created her bliss with his mouth and finger play were almost enough to help him find his own pleasure as he rocked his hardness against the sheets of their bed. But if he could hold off, just continue for just another few strokes then perhaps she would take him into her mouth afterwards. Acts that she called ‘oral’ and that they’d only recently added to their ever-growing repertoire of sexual delights.

  Pairing with Leah was like nothing he’d envisioned when he’d taken himself in hand after viewing Earth’s vid feeds, the ones of males and females coupling. At first, he’d been shocked but his amazement at both the sight and the idea of what he could do with a female had him using his hand on his tailpor multiple times a day.

  But those imaginings were nothing compared to the actual feel of his Leah.

  And when combined with the kiss of their wahroms was completely satisfying in a way that went beyond mere physical pleasure but completed him in some fashion at a cellular level.

  Her quivering thighs came together to grip his face as her hands tangled in his hair, pressing him tighter into position which he recognized signaled the beginning of her eruption. Using the flat of his tongue, he increased both speed and pressure to circle and dance against her as his fingers sought out the rough patch inside to caress and thrill.

  “Rykhan!” she screamed as her body shook while she crested and he knew he needed to begin decreasing all movement against her flesh, understanding from past experience that she became ultra-sensitive after she released.

  “Oh my god,” she panted and as always, Rykhan felt the glow of satisfaction heat his chest at the knowledge that he had made her feel so wonderful. To his mind, there was no greater gift Tsiran could have given them than the ability to make each other feel so amazing together as they joined.

  As
he slid up and to her side, her arms were already reaching for him. “God, what you do to me!” she breathed, taking his long length in her hot hands as she began to stroke him, causing the wetness that was already leaking out of him to increase. “That mouth,” she murmured as her lips met his. “Those fingers…”

  Almost without volition, Rykhan rolled to his back and Leah followed only scooting down the mattress until her face was aligned with his throbbing manhood. He hissed at the heat of her mouth and then was so lost in the feel of her lips and tongue, the deliberate tight strokes of her hand on the length she couldn’t swallow, that he couldn’t think or speak. He could only move his hips as he elatedly pumped himself into her.

  And as his body exploded, he was only idly aware of the roar that he’d let out. One that echoed within the confines of the room and was so loud, he was glad they were on a different level than the other crew quarters.

  Leah made her way back from the cleansing unit and climbed back into bed to snuggle against him. It was the time Rykhan knew was special for them both, when he felt closest to the female who’d taken over his body, mind and heart. A time he felt tied to her in a way that defied description and generated feelings so deep he didn’t know how to express them.

  “Baby? Can I ask you something?” she whispered, breaking the comfortable silence in the aftermath of their wild joining.

  “Always, mica tisha,” came his relaxed reply as he flexed his arms around her.

  “I know we haven’t talked about it in a while but I was wondering about the Picari sealing ceremony. The Tersa Tragyrd, I guess it’s called.” Everything within Rykhan stilled and became very alert. Actually, to his memory she’d never asked about it after he’d first told her that they were destined by Tsiran to be together for the rest of their lives.

  “What would you like to know?”

  “Is it like a fancy thing where you get all dressed up and go someplace special with someone saying religious words over you?” He couldn’t identify the emotions he heard, the ones running behind her voice. And because he couldn’t, he was very careful with his reply.

  “Back before the troubles, that is how some couples chose to seal their pairing but to my mind, that is only an outside display of what should be happening to their hearts.” He hoped she understood what he meant. While his English had gotten better, the language didn’t have all the same nuances that his native language provided to let the speaker understand not only the words but the feelings behind them.

  “So what’s the most important thing about the sealing then?”

  He twisted until he was facing her, until he could stare into her amazing eyes and fully see her beautiful face. Catching an errant lock of hair, he gently pushed it behind her ear while he thought. “It is the words, my Leah. The promises that the couple, the pair, make to one another. Those are the most important in the sealing. The vows that they make to each other before Tsiran.” He read confusion in her eyes. “Would you like me to recite them for you?”

  She nodded and Rykhan could barely breathe at the tenderness in her gaze. Taking both her hands in his, he began to speak the phrases he’d painstakingly translated from formal Picari to English weeks before.

  “I choose to pair my life with you, mica blay. It is my choice to join myself with you until the end of our days. I promise that you and any younglings we are blessed with will be my first priority, never far from my thoughts, every moment of every day until Tsiran pulls me into His ether. That I will protect, comfort and provide for us to the best of my ability and for as long as I am able. I freely give you my body, my intellect and my heart in return for yours and promise to care for them as carefully as I do my own. May the joy we share today be with us always.” As Rykhan’s voice wound down, his heart sped up as he watched tears escape from Leah’s eyes.

  She tried to smile but he saw her bottom lip quiver and it was more than a few moments before she spoke. “That was beautiful.”

  He could only nod because of the lump in his throat. A firm mass that he knew was a knot of longing to pair with her, with his Leah. But she’d already told him that wouldn’t ever happen. To cover what he knew she probably saw in his expression, he used a corner of the pillowcase to wipe her face.

  “If tersa blay means ‘sweet bride’ then what’s the Picari term for the male?”

  “Flenta marl.” His voice was gruff with all the emotions churning inside him. “It means something close to ‘cherished groom’.”

  She stared into his eyes before he felt one of her small hands cup his cheek, a gesture she used often but that he never got tired of receiving. And as he turned his face into her palm, he heard her quiet voice start to speak.

  “I choose to join my life with yours, flenta marl. To pair myself with you until the end of our lives. That you and any children we are blessed with will always be first in my heart, never far from my thoughts until God allows me in heaven. I promise I will care, comfort and provide for you to the best of my ability, for as long as I’m able. I freely give you my body, my intellect and my heart in return for yours and will treasure and nourish them as carefully as I do my own. May the joy we share today be with us always.”

  In retrospect, Rykhan could never quite remember which came first after Leah had pledged her version of the Tersa Tragyrd: her softly murmured ‘I love you’, the overwhelming heat that pulsated from his wahrom or the absolute, immediate and overcoming need to be inside her.

  All he remembered was the sheer euphoria that saturated every minute part of him as he sank into her, the elation of his heart and mind as the bliss in the connection of their wahroms became stronger somehow. And as his body released his essence into hers, he detected a glow behind his eyelids, one that was so bright he had no choice but to open his eyes to see what was causing such brightness.

  And as he stared, he heard Leah’s soft delighted laugh.

  “So I’m guessing Tsiran took us at our word and this means we’re really sealed, huh?”

  Rykhan closed his eyes and opened them again but the image did not change. His wahrom, the band of bronze that had grown overnight in his seventeenth yon, gave evidence of his warrior status and was so much a part of his body he barely felt it except when Leah was around, had somehow changed.

  It had, in only an instant transformed to beautiful gleaming gold.

  “Damn, and here I was all set to change my after-baby wardrobe to show it off,” Leah said with a smile that more than spoke of her happiness. “Does this happen often or…”

  “I h-have never heard of one c-changing before…” Rykhan was having a very hard time speaking since his mind was whirling with everything that had happened.

  Leah used a hand on his chin to turn his head back to hers. “Maybe it’s a new thing. You know, like going on search to find a mate and then finding a human female that Tsiran marked as your own. And then getting sealed naked on a bed in a tin can hovering behind a moon by planet in a galaxy far, far away.” She giggled and Rykhan felt his lips tip up as well. “I’m thinking this all new for both of us.”

  And Rykhan didn’t and wasn’t about to offer any argument.

  But he did remember to send heartfelt thanks to his creator for the female that had been chosen for him.

  #.#.#.#.#.

  Thanks so much for allowing me to try my hand at writing sci-fi romance. As a lot of you that follow me know, I’ve always wanted to give it a go since that is one of my favorite genres in the Romance category.

  I have written this novella as a prequel to stories that are still in the planning stages. Ones that will let us in how each of the warrior’s do in their Quest. I’m excited to know more about each of them and hope you are as well.

  As a writer of contemporary romances, I discovered that a lot of work goes into a sci-fi novel that I hadn’t been aware of. The sheer amount of research that has to be done was more than daunting as well as the glossary I had to put together in order to remember what Picari words were used and what they
meant!

  It has been a lot of fun and I want to thank the Michelle’s for allowing me to play with them.

  Author Bio – J.A. Hornbuckle

  Aren’t we all curious about the person who wrote the story we just read? I know I am.

  Here’s what I know about myself:

  -I love red wine (although I’ve been known to enjoy a Fireball shot or two)

  -Live music gives me tingles no matter what style (…well, opera isn’t really my thing!)

  -Muscled, tatted, long-haired men are my own personal kryptonite.

  -I can’t deal with the cold which is why I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this lady!

  At first meeting me, people often think I’m somber and a little standoffish. I’m really not. It’s a case of my outsides not matching my insides. Because there’s a freaking party in my head almost twenty-four/seven.

  I’m old enough to know better but still young enough to do it anyway (…the BEST part of aging is that you know the CONSEQUENCES of your actions and figure the ratio of outcome to resulting punishment accordingly!)

  I love reading and writing, especially romances. But only where the ‘man’ portion is included in the ro-man-ce.

  And I believe, I really do have faith, that there are happily-ever-afters. And I hope you do as well.

  Email: ja@jahornbuckle.com

  Website: http://www.jahornbuckle.com

  Twitter: @JAHornbuckle

  GoodReads: J.A. Hornbuckle

  Facebook: Yeah…I’m still working on it!

  Other Books by J.A. Hornbuckle:

  The Grantham Series

  -Pole Dance

  -Human Hieroglyphix 1

  -Tap Dance

  -Human Hieroglyphix 2

  -Bewitchments 1

  -A Grantham Christmas

  Stand Alone Novels

  -Everybody Falls