Embracing Ember

by Astrid Cielo

  Silvius inputted the necessary information to contact Dais, hoping his old friend could help him like he had helped Ceylon find Ember. Dais’s eerie pale blue eyes peered at him from the screen, a look on his face letting Silvius know that Dais already knew what he was calling about. “Hello, Silvius. It seems as if you have lost something important also.”

  “Yes. Her name is Maria and she was supposed to wait on me to go with her to meet her family. After I ensured Ember and Ceylon’s safety I went to find her, but she is missing. There was a small note stating she went to visit family. It was addressed to me.”

  “Why do you think she left you, even after promising to wait?” Dais’s voice held accusation, but Silvius couldn’t understand why. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong when it came to Maria.

  “I really don’t know,” Silvius answered honestly.

  “Then, my friend you are not ready to know where she is. Perhaps in your journey to find her, the answer will come to you.”

  Silvius was angry. How dare Dais state he was not ready to find Maria, he needed to see her, hold her and know that she was safe. “Anger at me will not help you find your mate,” Dais stated with a smile. Silvius sighed and nodded his head in acceptance.

  “Your right, Dais. I apologize. I am going crazy not knowing that she is safe. I need her.”

  “Of course you do, and just to alleviate your worry, Maria is perfectly fine and healthy. Although a bit confused.”

  Silvius was relieved to hear that Maria was safe, but his next question died on his lips when he heard the small sob. Silvius turned to see a flushed Ember with tears running freely down her face. He moved swiftly and took Ember by her shoulders and looking down into those troubled green eyes. “Ember, what’s wrong? Are you injured?”

  Ember couldn’t speak from her tears, but she shook her head letting him know she was okay. “Silvius, what’s going on?” Dais’s voice brought Ember’s attention to the screen. One glance at her eyes and Dais knew exactly what was ailing Ember. “I see. Silvius, aid Ember to leave as she now wishes to do. Tell Ceylon after you deposit her that she is gone but do not tell him where she is. If he truly loves her he will find her,” Dais stated in their language. Silvius almost didn’t recognize the language after speaking English for so long with the crew. In order to learn their designated Earth language the crew had foregone the use of their native tongue and used English for everything. Silvius nodded his understanding to Dais before taking Ember and leading her to the transport bay. “Oh and Silvius, when you figure out the answer, then you’ll find your Maria.”

  With those cryptic words, Dais’s face faded from the screen and Silvius helped Maria into the transporter. “Now, do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

  “He doesn’t love me.” Ember’s tears were still flowing, but for some reason they had slowed enough for her to talk.

  “Who, Ceylon?”

  “Yes. I have told him many times that I love him, but he hasn’t told me once that he loves me.” Silvius was confused. He had heard Ceylon profess his love for Ember many times, telling her over and over again that she was his and that he loved her. Then a light bulb seemed to shine its light on the situation. Ceylon had told her those words over and over again, yes, but Ember had no idea what he meant. He always told her of his love in their language.

  “Have you ever thought to ask how he feels?” It seemed like the most pertinent and logical thing to do. Ember nodded but didn’t elaborate. It seemed like an eternity before she spoke.

  “ I heard them during the meeting. They are leaving in two weeks. Cedwin gave them the opportunity to petition to stay, but Ceylon said there was no reason for him to stay and he would be ready in two weeks.” With those words she dissolved into tears. While he knew that some of the crews would be going back to Salin, Silvius knew that Ceylon intended to take Ember with him. Ember was his mate, but it seemed that she didn’t know that. Silvius shrugged and did as Dais asked. Dais had never led him wrong before, and it seemed as if Ceylon had something he had to learn in all of this.

  ***

  Ceylon had looked everywhere for Ember. It wasn’t like she could have just gone out for a few minutes, they were in the ship, for goodness sakes. Ceylon was beginning to panic when Silvius stepped into the hallway. “Ceylon, I have a feeling you are looking for something.”

  “Do you know where Ember is?”

  “I can only tell you that she left. I took her back to Earth?”

  Ceylon saw red and grabbed Silvius by his shirt pinning him to the wall. “Why would you take her from me? And it better be good, or so help me you will die.” Silvius’ eyes widened at Ceylon’s uncharacteristic behavior. Ceylon was surprised at the deep growl his voice had become. He had become a healer because of his very easy temperament. He released Silvius and stepped back. “I’m sorry, Silvius. I can’t lose Ember, she is my mate.”

  “I know that, but she didn’t. She requested to leave, said that you were leaving and that you didn’t love her.”

  “But that is ridiculous. I tell her all the time that I love her.”

  “Right, but did you ever tell her in English?”

  Ceylon looked at Silvius as if he had grown two heads, wishing he could punch the smirk off of his face. “Of course, I…”

  “No. You didn’t. Everyone on the crew heard your praises and exultations of your love for Ember. It got nauseating honestly, but Ember didn’t understand a single one of those. She was heartbroken. I was going to explain to her, but Dais made me promise to allow you to search for her. I believe there is a reason in it. I don’t know. I’ve known the guy my whole life and he baffles me most of the time. But I will say this, he has never led me wrong.”

  “So what do I do now?”

  “You find your mate and tell her that you love her and bring her back. A little advice though, tell her those things in English this time.”

  “Tell everyone that I’ll be back when I’ve found her.” Ceylon turned to leave when Merrcum stepped out of the medical bay nearly being plowed down by Ceylon.

  “I’m sorry Ceylon. I was looking for you and Ember.”

  “Well, Ember is missing and I’ve got to go find her.” Merrcum looked baffled. “It’s a long story, that I am sure will be funny in years to come, but I don’t have time to talk about it now.”

  “Well, I just reviewed Ember’s medical scan and I believe you’d like to take a look. It will only take a moment.” Merrcum turned around and Ceylon followed. His heart aching at losing Ember, yet again.

  THIRTEEN

  Ember attempted to focus on the project at hand, but she wasn’t succeeding. Her mind constantly wandered to Ceylon, how he looked, the sound of his voice, and the way he made love to her. It had been three weeks since she had ran from him, her heart in shards. It wasn’t getting any easier. Ember had read somewhere that time healed all things, but she was sure that time would never heal her heart. She had thought many times that she would go back to the ship and ask Ceylon how he felt. She never did and the fact that he was probably gone settled in her stomach like a rock sinking in the ocean.

  Ember had rented a very small apartment one state over. She couldn’t stay in a town that held so many memories for her – good and bad. Thankfully her savings had amassed quite well during her marriage to Landon.

  Ember let her colored pencil fall to the table and got up, wandering to the bathroom. The small stick sat staring at her. Taunting her with the truth. Ember read the instructions through and through and each one had done the same. She was pregnant. Ember let her hand fall to cup her still flat abdomen as she imagined giving birth to the little life that grew inside of her. A tear fell down her cheek as she realized that her child would never know his or her father. Ceylon was gone and he would never be back. Ember allowed herself to slide to the bathroom floor and the tears never seemed to stop. She thought after the first week of nonstop tears she would have cried herself dry, but she hadn’t. Every night she cried hersel
f to sleep only to wake to a bleak reality that she was incomplete.

  A knock at the door stirred her from her never ending misery as she hefted herself from the floor. Ember picked up the bat from beside the door and opened it slightly leaving the chain locked to keep out someone if it turned out to be Landon. Ember wasn’t stupid, she would never be caught by that bastard again. She had more than herself at stake this time.

  Ember’s breath stilled in her lungs as she took in the sweetest sight she had ever seen. “Ember.” Ceylon whispered her name and she began to sob – relief and pain washing over her.

  “Ceylon,” Ember sobbed.

  “Yes, Sweet Ember, let me in.”

  “You left.”

  “I couldn’t leave.”

  “Why?”

  “Oh, my sweet Ember. I couldn’t leave without the woman that I love.”

  Ember’s face crumpled, her heart re-breaking. He loved another. “Who is she and why must you torture me with this?”

  “Ember. Open this door, now.” Ceylon’s voice became deep and authoritative. Ember had unlocked the door. She stood there in shell shock as Ceylon stepped into the house. He moved like a predator stalking its prey, backing Ember against the wall. Ceylon moved quickly pinning her to the wall and taking her mouth in a devastating kiss. His tongue pushed into her mouth and dominated her. Ember became pliant, a ball of mush. She had wanted him for three long and lonely weeks and now he was here kissing her senseless.

  Ceylon pulled free from her mouth and kissed a path down Ember’s neck, tonguing her pulse points as he cupped her bottom pulling her against his erection. Ember moaned, her nipples tightening and her already moist folds, becoming drenched in her need for him. Ceylon pulled away from her long enough to divest her of her shirt and bra.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured as he took a nipple into his mouth sucking strongly before biting with enough force to cause her to yelp. Ceylon laved her nipple, easing the slight pain. “That was for running, my sweet Ember.” He sucked the other nipple into his mouth before nipping it more gently, causing her vaginal muscles to clench. “Why did you run, Ember?”

  “Because you don’t love me,” Ember wailed – emotional pain and pleasure warring within her.

  Ceylon bit down on her nipple hard again eliciting another yelp from Ember. “That, my love is doubting that I love you.” Ember’s eyes widened at the implication of his words. Tears gathered in her eyes, her heart filling with hope.

  “You love me?”

  “Sum diligo vos, Ember. Vos sint mea.” Ember’s face scrunched up in confusion. Ceylon smiled and kissed her gently on the nose. “My sweet Ember, I have been telling you that since the first time. I am saying in my language that I love you and you are mine. Ember, I have never loved anyone more than I love you. Silly woman, you are my mate, my other half. I don’t know how else to say it…”

  “Ceylon.”

  “Yes, my love.”

  “Shut up and kiss me.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Ceylon took her mouth, his kiss meaning so much more now that she knew that he loved her. Ember’s heart was overflowing with the love she felt for this man. Her hands spanned his muscular chest and she lifted his shirt removing it from his delicious torso. Ceylon unsnapped her pants, lowering them down her legs, then easily lifting her and placing her back against the wall.

  Ember instinctively wrapped her legs around him, bringing her mound in contact with his pant clad erection. “Ceylon, take me please.”

  Ceylon let his free hand slide down her abdomen and swirl at her entrance before plunging into her aching wetness. Ember cried out in pleasure as his finger became two, then three fingers all plunging into her, ratcheting her need to a fever pitch. Just when she began to reach the precipice, Ceylon removed his fingers. “Ahhh, I-I was almost there.”

  “Ceylon kissed her lips even as he freed his erection. “I know, Ember but I want to be inside of you as you come, feel you clench me as I empty myself deep inside of you.” Ceylon’s erection was poised at her entrance, as if waiting for her permission. Ember nodded at Ceylon and he took her, hard and fast against the wall. His shaft plunging deep bumping the mouth of her womb sending her pleasure soaring as she shattered in his arms, her climax taking her breath away.

  “I love you, Ceylon,” Ember screamed as she felt his seed bath her channel. They were both breathing hard.

  “Sum diligo vos, Ember. Vos sint mea.”

  Ember smiled, those meaningless words he always sprouted now meant the world to her, meant love and security. Ember pointed Ceylon in the direction of the bedroom, his shaft never leaving her body as he laid her down and settled in the cradle of her hips. Ceylon cupped her cheek and kissed her lips gently. “Sum diligo vos, Ceylon. Vos sint mea,” she repeated. Ceylon smiled down at her and repeated those words again. “How do you say I’m pregnant in your language?”

  “Sum meet filius.” Ceylon said as he cupped her abdomen. “Merrcum told me that you last medical scan revealed some very interesting news. Do you have something that you need to tell me?”

  “Sum meet filius.” Ceylon kissed her as he cupped her abdomen protectively.

  “Ember,” he said after kissing her senseless again, “I do have to go back to Salin, the ship is waiting for me to return and I want you to go with me.” Ember thought about what she had on Earth. She was born an orphan, shuttled from foster home to foster home and abused for five years by a man who had promised to love and protect her. She had nothing here on Earth and everything to gain.

  “I couldn’t imagine not being with you and for the past three weeks I’ve been through hell thinking that I would never see you again. I would love to go to Salin with you.”

  Ceylon laughed and rolled his hips sending pleasure curling through her abdomen. It seemed Ceylon was ready for round two. Ember clasped his hair and pulled his mouth to hers, “Forever,” she whispered.

  “Forever,” Ceylon whispered to her before taking her mouth. They made love through the night. Ember’s heart filled with love.

  EPILOGUE

  Ember couldn’t believe the beauty of space. The stars seemed to go on and on. Her eyes had absorbed each place they had passed, and her nights had been filled with passion as Ceylon never ceased to amaze her in the bedroom – and out of it. Arms wrapped around her, cupping her now distended abdomen, it had been three whole months since she had made the decision to go to Salin with Ceylon. She had never made a better decision. “What are you doing, Ember?”

  “Watching as the stars pass by.”

  “Well, we will be approaching Salin in about thirty minutes and I need to get you strapped in for our descent.”

  “Okay. How do you think everyone else is doing back on Earth? I kind of miss the crew.”

  “Don’t worry, sweet Ember. Silvius has his plate full looking for Maria and I’m sure the rest of the crew will call from time to time.”

  Ember looked up into Ceylon’s blue eyes in confusion. What was Silvius looking for Maria for? “Why is Silvius looking for Maria?”

  “Because she ran after promising she would wait for him. He is hopelessly in love with her, like I am with you.”

  “Aw, I love you, too Ceylon. But why doesn’t he just go to her grandmother’s? It would be the place she went. When I first met her she and I would talk about us and she said that she had always felt close to her grandmother.”

  “Apparently, my sweet Ember, males of our species don’t have the ability to communicate effectively, because he is simply unaware, besides Dais told him until he understood her reason for leaving then he wouldn’t be able to find her. I think it will do him good to have to find her. It did me some good.”

  “I don’t understand?”

  “I realized that I couldn’t live without you, a feeling that made me realize once and for all that it was okay to love again. I’m not happy about the time we spent apart, but I think an Earth male once told me that absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

/>   Ember laughed and then squealed in delight as Ceylon spun her around to claim her lips with his.

  ***

  Maria walked into the dining room where the smells of her childhood had lured her to eat. Her Abuela was sitting at the table waiting for her. Maria had been here for a month and her Abuela had let her avoid telling her why she had driven halfway across the country out of the blue. She hadn’t realized how much she needed this, her abuela’s support as she attempted to forget about him – Silvius.

  Silvius haunted her dreams causing her to wake up in the throes of passion her voice already hoarse from her screams. Her abuela never asked, just gave her a look every morning as she trudged down the stairs only to rush away from the table at the first whiff of food to vomit.