by R. E. Butler
"I love it," she said as she peeked around him to get a better look. "Where is it?"
He hummed in his throat, "It's a place my parents took me when I was a child during a break in my schooling. It's one of the few happy memories I have of my childhood. I'd like to take our children there, someday."
He turned in her arms and tilted her face with his paint-smudged hands and pressed his mouth to hers.
"You taste like ronii." He licked his lips with a roguish smile.
He let her lead him back to the house so they could eat lunch. While they sat around the table in the cozy kitchen, Ashleigh asked Sloan to tell her what happened to Kate.
"Paoli paid her debt, after only a week." Sloan smiled.
Paoli's situation was similar in some ways to Eden's. His father had died in the military when Paoli was fifteen. He had six brothers and sisters younger than him, and his mother had to go to work. She was injured and lost her job, and they lost their home. Unlike Eden, who was sold by his own parents, Paoli sold himself into bondage to save his family.
He came into the Bordelayz a few years after Eden, and they shared a cell. He was Eden's only friend.
"But he is also a slave worker at the Bordelayz, isn't he?" Ashleigh asked in confusion.
"He was." Sloan nodded, spooning the fruit salad onto her plate. "He had just paid his own debt after saving enough money to buy a home for himself and his family. He saw Kate, and he said that something clicked for him and he knew he couldn't leave her there to be forced. He paid her debt outright, which all but drained the money he had set aside. But she was never forced or abused in any way, he made sure of it."
"Paoli is a good man," Eden smiled. "He will make an excellent, caring husband."
"Where are they staying? I'd like to visit her when the moon cycle is over," Ashleigh said.
"They're staying at a community lodge. He is trying to get a job to support them, but with his hair still blue and the fact he was a brokah, he cannot find anything. He may have to take her home to his mother's."
"So they haven't really mated, with the serum and everything, so his hair will turn?" Ashleigh asked.
"No. Paoli is determined not to ask her to be with him until she loves him. She's very distraught and unhappy. Although she is kind to Paoli, she still wants to go home to Earth."
"Why can't they just let her go home?" Ashleigh let her fork drop to the plate with a clang. Frustration ate at her.
Eden pulled her from her chair into his lap and kissed her neck. "If one can go home, love, then all could. The government won’t risk it.”
"She's safe, Ashleigh, that's enough for now. And Paoli is an honorable young male. He will take care of her. He won't ever lay a hand on her, until she's ready."
The conversation switched topics slightly as Eden asked Sloan about her medical work and when the next abduction journey was planned, which was not for at least a year. It wasn't to Earth, thankfully. Although happy with her husband, Ashleigh didn't want to think about them returning to her planet again and again to kidnap women. It had worked out okay for the twenty-seven women on her journey, but it could have been a disaster for any one of them - or all of them.
They finished eating, and Sloan left to go back to work.
She felt the ridge of Eden's cock against her thighs as she sat on his lap, and she wiggled experimentally and smiled when he groaned. He offered her another bite of ronii, and she ate it from his fingers.
He chuckled, and then his eyes darkened slightly, just before he took possession of her mouth with his own. Their lips mashed together as he slid his tongue into her mouth, licking and sucking at her tongue, eating her moans like they were food he could live on. He broke the kiss, setting her on her feet.
Their clothes were discarded as they kissed, making their way to the couch. Eden sat down, grabbing her hips and tugging her onto his lap. She straddled him, playing her fingers through his hair as she leaned forward and pressed him into the back of the couch.
"I think ronii makes you horny," he chuckled.
"You might be right. You don't really care, do you?"
He rolled his thumbs in the space on either side of her pussy and her hips followed the motion. "No. I love you just like this all the time. Hot, wet, and all mine."
He pulled her down by her hips, impaling her on his hard cock, so deep she felt the head of him kiss her womb. Her head fell back as she reveled in the feeling of him buried so deep, the heat of his body underneath hers, and the sweet scent of their mixed arousal.
She rolled her hips against his, moving on him leisurely so she could enjoy every inch of his solid length. The flat of his hand pressed against her belly and his thumb pressed against her clit. A dart of pleasure spiked through her. She gripped his shoulders and began to move on him. Up, down. Stroking him, squeezing him. Up, down. Moving a little faster, she began to pant as he rubbed her arousal against her swollen nub. Up, down. Her stomach fluttered, her muscles contracting as she met his dark eyes and held them.
He held her by one hip, his fingers digging into her skin as his thumb ran relentless circles around her clit and drove her closer and closer to the edge. She felt her body turn liquid just moments before she jerked in pleasure, her climax squeezing his cock tightly. He groaned and grabbed her by both hips, slamming her down as he thrust his hips up in a frantic pace. He came after only a few strokes, calling her name and pressing her tightly against him, their bodies wed.
She collapsed against his chest, hugging her arms around him. His hands stroked lightly across her back as he kissed her forehead and whispered his love.
Chapter 7
Ashleigh pulled off her pink gardening gloves and wiped at her brow with the back of her hand. Their home in Polona was in the temperate region, so it stayed warm year-round, but they were in their hottest season. She had learned very quickly to work outside in the mornings, before the bright sun rose high in the purple sky.
There were fourteen moon cycles to their standard year, with an equal twenty-eights days - also known as dins - each moon cycle. Last week she had completed her first moon cycle on the planet and was released from the requirement to stay within the confines of their home for the first moon cycle on planet.
She and Eden had celebrated the first day of her release by going for a long walk around the city of Polona. They toured the museum, ate lunch and dinner out, and went to a market to buy plants for her flower garden.
A few days later, they had gone to see Kate and Paoli at the community home. When Ashleigh was in college, she'd gone to Europe for a month with two friends from school. They had stayed in hostels, which was what the community home reminded her of. It was a large dome with a few dozen rooms that were rented by the day. A robust woman with graying hair owned the home. Kate appeared to be fine, but she had clearly not had a good time of things. Her pretty blonde hair had lost its luster, and her blue eyes, which had held such fire, were now wary and unhappy. Paoli was as sweet and kind as Eden and Sloan had said he was. He rushed around the small room that contained a cot, a low table, and a clothes rack. A pillow and bedroll tucked on the floor told Ashleigh that Paoli didn't sleep on the cot with Kate and was truly giving her time to get used to him.
She and Eden had brought a picnic lunch from the market, and the four of them went to a nearby park to eat. Paoli's hair was a lighter shade of blue than Eden's had been, half-way down his back and tied in a thick braid. His eyes were caramel, surrounded by thick lashes. He was clearly smitten with Kate, even though they'd only been free of the Bordelayz for a little over three weeks.
Eden looked like that, she thought, as she watched Paoli carefully arrange food on a plate for Kate and put it on the blanket in front of where she sat. Kate thanked him, and he practically bristled with pride.
They walked back to the community home together, Kate and Ashleigh walking just in front of Eden and Paoli. She linked her arm through Kate's. "Are you feeling okay, now that you're free?"
"I'm st
ill not home, Ashleigh. I miss my family and my house and my dog."
"I miss my family, too. I would have liked to be able to say goodbye. But these are the cards we were dealt. We're lucky, Kate, so very lucky, to have found men here on this alien world that will take care of us and keep us safe."
She shivered. "Dex didn't want a wife, he wanted a sex slave."
"Dex? He was the one that did the soul-walk for you?"
She nodded. "He was really scary. He kept me locked up in the bedroom when I refused to sleep with him. I think it wounded his pride when I wouldn't, and that made him angry. He tried to get rid of me before we even got to the planet, but they made him keep me in his quarters until we landed. Then I was just tossed away like a sack of rotten potatoes."
"Maybe the soul-walk didn't make a mistake. Maybe it brought you here to Paoli through Dex," Ashleigh offered as they stopped in front of the community home.
"I don't believe in fate."
"Well, I didn't believe in alien planets and traveling through space, either," Ashleigh joked and Kate chuckled.
"Yeah, well, at least I'm out of that horrible Bordelayz. He thought we could go live with his mother, but she said the house was too small for us. We'll be on the streets soon, and I heard one of the tenants say the other day that if you get picked up by the military police as homeless, they throw you back in the Bordelayz until you can afford to pay for a home."
"Paoli will figure something out. He cares for you."
Kate hummed in her throat and said nothing. Ashleigh watched Eden and Paoli hug, and then Paoli dipped his head and kissed Ashleigh's hand, thanking her for the meal.
Eden wanted to work some more in the classroom before his pottery class showed up, and Ashleigh sat down on a large, square pillow in the corner and watched him. His long, agile fingers worked with a lump of clay, twisting and carving it into something that was sure to be incredible.
Her mind wandered a bit, and she stood up, walking over to the nearly empty storage room. The door slid open, and she walked inside. It could work, she thought.
Leaning against the door jam, she said, "Didn't you tell me that Paoli liked to make clothing?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Eden said without looking up. "He fixed up a few of the tunics I purchased for you."
"Could he sell them?"
Eden looked up, his brows drawing in confusion. "Of course. He would just need a place to work. Any of the garment stores would take his creations. Why?"
"I was just thinking that this room," she gestured behind her, "is really big enough to be a bedroom, and there's a full bath in here. And the other storage room could become another workshop. Sloan's storage room in her home has a few garment machines, I'm sure she would be willing to loan them to Paoli. We could organize your things better in here, add some more cabinets."
Eden straightened, and a curious smile came over his face. "He could help me out in classes, too, and I could pay him a little so he could purchase materials."
She closed the distance to him and hugged him, ignoring his clay-smudged clothing.
"Then they won't be homeless," she said, a feeling of relief filling her at being able to help not only Kate but also Paoli, as they treaded the waters of their new relationship.
"My sweetheart," Eden said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "you have the biggest, kindest heart of anyone I've ever known. I'm so very fortunate to have you as my soul mate and my bride."
Even though it had only been a few months, she felt truly at home on Norlan, with Eden. She'd believed at first that she'd lost everything she had ever valued as important. Now, she realized that Eden had become the most important person in her life. She would always miss her family and wonder what had happened to them, but Eden was her family now. And someday, she hoped they would have children to love and nurture. Male or female, their children were the next hope of the Norlanian people, and she was proud to stand on the edge of the future, with her husband.
One day, a delivery man had brought her a necklace. But what he'd really brought her, was her heart.
The End
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Contact R.E. Butler
By Blog: www.rebutler.wordpress.com
By Email: [email protected]
On Twitter: @rebutlerauthor
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/R.E.ButlerAuthorPage
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Other Works by R.E. Butler
The Wolf's Mate Series
Jason & Cadence (Book 1)
Linus & The Angel (Book 2)
Callie & The Cats (Book 3)
Michael & Shyne (Book 4 - Coming Fall 2012)
Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series
A Curve of Claw
A Flash of Fang
A Price for a Princess
A Bond of Brothers
A Bead of Blood (Coming Fall 2012)
The Necklace Chronicles
The Tribes' Bride
The Gigolo's Bride
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