“Do you like it?”
Aydan’s deep voice startled Riley. She turned slowly. There stood Aydan with his arms crossed, his shoulder resting against the wall as he leaned into it. He belonged here.
“I love it. I can’t believe it took only six months to build this.” Her voice held traces of amazement as she stared into his beautiful eyes.
“When there is a need on Azziar, everyone pitches in to help. It is our way.”
She held his gaze. “It is a good way.” The air thickened, her skin electrified. The way her body reacted to him only grew in intensity.
She saw the heat in his eyes ignite, catch fire. “Where are the kids?”
Riley licked her bottom lip, let her gaze roam his hard-muscled body. “They are staying with your mother tonight.” They hadn’t had a lot of private time together. With the extra people, Nia’s house was cramped. The twins constantly jumped in bed with them. Aydan never complained, but he worked hard to finish their house as quickly as possible.
Instant reaction. Aydan grabbed her waist; she wrapped her legs around his hips. Her panties were drenched. “I smell your desire.” His words were thick, a hushed growl. Before she could blink, they were both naked on the bed, Aydan thrusting inside her. “I,” thrust, “need,” thrust, “you,” thrust. She threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. The force of his thrusts scooted her back a little.
With his arm hooked under her knee, he opened her up more, giving him better access. “I’m so close.” Her words were a breathy whisper.
As she screamed out his name, she threw her head back and closed her eyes. Sensations pulsed through her body, exploding with tiny shocks of energy as she jerked in response. She felt him still, then the warm liquid jet inside her.
When she finally caught her breath, a smile spread across her face. “You didn’t cover my mouth this time.” Before, he’d always covered her mouth to mute her screams.
“We are alone. No one will hear.”
Her loving eyes traced his face as he gently rocked his hips, taking his time. “I love you, Aydan.”
“I love you, too.” He picked up his pace until they both found their release again.
She lay with her head on his chest; he kissed the top of her forehead. “I didn’t let you see the house.”
“I saw some of it. It’s beautiful. More than I could hope for.”
“You deserve everything.”
“Why don’t you show it to me now?”
“Really?”
She nodded. Naked, they walked through the house. He showed her every room, each with a massive bed and closet. “The girls will love this. They’ve never had their own room before. Well, Belle had mine for a short time until I moved back home.”
“I hope they will love it.” He looked into her loving eyes. “They are my young.”
“Of course, they are. The twins already call you Aaddy.” When they mixed Daddy with Aydan, Riley’s heart melted. In their little minds, they had a mom and a dad, complete with a grandmother. They didn’t care that they looked different from Aydan and Nia. In their minds, they were the same. Love is what makes a family.
She looked around in confusion. “There’s only one thing missing.”
“What?”
“The nursery.”
He spun around, grasping both her hands. “Are you…?”
“Yes. I saw Rykker today, and he confirmed it.”
Aydan swept her up, carried her to bed and rained soft kisses on her stomach, talking to the baby before making love to her the rest of the night.
The End!
(Read on for a preview of the next book)
Thank you for reading Aydan. If you enjoyed it, please kindly leave a review.
Don’t worry, this is not the end of the Azziarin Series, just a short break. Read on for your first look at Zorvak’s Rescue, Earth’s first space exploration mission gone wrong.
If you wish to be notified of upcoming releases, join my mailing list at hannahdavenport.com. You can also like my page on Facebook. I only post about upcoming books, but it’s a great place to ask questions. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Other books by Hannah Davenport
Ambriel (Part 1)
Ambriel’s Quest (Part 2)
The Azziarin Series
Jakke (Book 1)
Dazz (Book 2)
Kollin (Book 3)
An Azziarin Christmas (Book 4)
Zekke (Book 5)
Aydan (Book 6)
Zorvak’s Rescue
(coming soon)
Turn the page for cover and first chapter.
Prologue
In the year 3022, Earth’s air was unbreathable, the smog choked the earth from all four corners, leaving no country untouched. The leaders had banded together to find a solution, but the answers never came. Instead of a solution, they invented an advanced particulate mask to filter the unwanted pollutants, although no one truly trusted their effectiveness. Their only choice was to stay inside where each building came equipped with an electronic air filter. The few trees that still lived had diseased yellow leaves that always drooped. They wouldn’t last much longer. Most buildings housed some type of indoor garden to help boost the oxygen level, letting them depend more on the oxygen produced than the filtration system from outside.
Earth had advanced technology, which contributed to the current problem. They invented artificial intelligence, cars you could drive, or fly, and in the past, they had explored the Milky Way Galaxy looking for habitable planets.
Now Earth had even more advanced technology, space crafts capable of exploring the galaxies beyond, engines so powerful it wouldn’t take long to clear the Milky Way. Finding a new planet was vital if humans were to survive.
Chapter One
As I scurried the crowded streets, I kept my head down, trying to skate by unnoticed. A nobody—that’s the way I preferred it. The crisp air chilled my bones, making me pull the ends of my thin, dark cloak closer together. I needed a way to get off this godforsaken planet. The fight club wasn’t far away, and with only two borrowed coins to my name, I reluctantly decided to bet it all. If I could turn the two into four, or even six coins…well, every little bit helped.
This was not the life I’d dreamed of, or wanted, to be the only human in this part of space, living on an unfamiliar planet, a very dangerous planet. The memories flooded back to me as I thought about the past six months, which seemed more like a million years. A dream come true, I snorted. Not!
~~~~~
“Girl, you need to have some fun for once.” My attention turned to Lara, who had just flopped down beside me. She was dressed in a short, tight red dress that barely covered her ass. Her long blonde hair flowed over her shoulder. I could never look as beautiful as her. I didn’t have the curves to fill out the dress.
“I can’t.” I closed the study manual and turned to face my only female friend. “We take our final written and practice test this week, and I need to be ready.”
“You are ready,” she whined with pleading eyes. “Just this once, go to the club with us. You really need to unwind a little, hopefully get laid before your vajayjay dries up from lack.”
I burst out in laughter. “You don’t really believe that, do you?” Lara proved to be extremely book smart, but sometimes she lacked basic common sense.
“Well, it could happen.” Her face twisted in concentration while she really thought about it. I laughed a little more from her expression alone. “Oh, shut up,” she jested.
“Let me get through this week, and I promise, we’ll have some fun. I just have to make sure that I beat Kevin. He’s stiff competition.” Kevin was my greatest rival, an arrogant asshole who thought women were inferior. Every fiber of my being urged me to study harder, train longer, push myself, not only to be chief pilot but to beat that asshole. Let him lose to a woman.
“Yeah, what’s with that attitude of his?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,”
and I really didn’t.
“He’s going out with us tonight.” Lara played with the hem of her short dress.
My head shot up to her downcast eyes before a smile spread across my face. Lara looked nervous about telling me that, or maybe guilty, but that confession made me extremely happy. “Really?”
Lara looked puzzled when she caught the excitement in my voice. “Yes. I don’t know why; he never goes out with us.”
“Doesn’t matter why,” I giggled. “Hopefully he’ll get sloshed and blow his final test.”
“Maybe I can help him,” Lara offered with a mischievous grin. “I could at least buy him a few drinks.” Her eyebrow rose in question.
I raised my hands in surrender. I hoped he got sloshed, but I wasn’t into sabotage. What fun would it be to win by cheating?
“Nah, just go have a great time and don’t worry about Kevin.”
“You sure you won’t come?” She gave me big puppy-dog eyes.
“I’m sure,” I grinned. “Thanks for asking, though.”
I watched Lara walk out of my room before I turned back to the study manual. As the first female pilot considered for an exploration mission, I needed to train every day to prove I could be just as good as or better than any of the men. Workouts started at six o’clock every morning, followed by breakfast, then honing my flight skills, either with practice simulators or studying. My social life was nonexistent; I gave up most of my friends and even the occasional date. Dating life, I huffed at the thought and shook my head. What a joke.
I was sitting in the cafeteria talking to John when Lara rushed over. Her eyes beamed with excitement; her words spilled out quickly. “Cami, have you seen the list?”
The list wasn’t due out until the evening, so my body hummed with excitement and nervous energy. My palms were so sweaty I wiped them on my jeans.
“Is it really up?” This was it, the moment I’d been waiting for.
“It is,” Lara grabbed my hand. “Let’s go!”
My heart pounded with excitement as Lara pulled me out of the cafeteria and down the hall, heading toward the information board. Several others stood in our way as I bounced from one foot to the other. Come on, move. I wanted to shove them out of the way, but that would be rude. So I waited, alternating from bouncing up and down to biting my nails. I needed to know if all my hard work had paid off. Just as I opened my mouth to tell the others to move, one person stepped away, and then another. Lara grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the front. I couldn’t look. I couldn’t not look! From the corner of my eye, I glanced at a white piece of paper tacked to the information board.
“I made it!” Lara squealed. “So did you, Cami!”
My head whipped around, and my eyes zeroed in on my name. Time froze. Chief Pilot: Camilla Ryan.
After a stunned pause, I took a much-needed breath. I did it! I thought as I raked a shaky hand through my fiery red hair.
“I can’t believe we will be on the first deep space exploration mission together!” Lara bounced up and down on her tiptoes, unlike me, my own feet remaining glued in place.
Scanning the list of names (there were only six), I spotted Lara’s as well. Chief Engineer: Lara Stevens.
My stunned eyes found hers. “We did it!” I said in disbelief as slow smile spread across my face.
“We did!”
All our hard work had paid off.
“Did you really have any doubts?” Lara asked. I wouldn’t admit it now, but yes, I did have doubts. Kevin was damned good and tough to beat.
“Congratulations, Cami,” a deep voice said over top of my head.
I looked up and over my shoulder. Kevin towered over me by at least six inches. “Thanks, Kevin.” He nodded and then walked away. I could have said so much more, even rubbed it in his face a little, but that would be unprofessional. Losing the chief pilot’s position to me was punishment enough for his arrogant attitude. I’m sure he will pilot the next mission, but this one was mine. I grinned.
A whirlwind of activities took place before our departure. Medical examinations to make sure we stayed healthy, meetings, parties to attend for professional reasons. The donors needed to feel important and to meet the crew that would bring forth a new era for Earth. We hoped to discover new worlds with breathable air that could one day be used as settlements. Some even speculated on the existence of a new planet that could be used as a vacation resort. The possibilities were endless as everyone dreamed of a new future.
Earth was overpopulated and polluted, making it hard to breath outside without a particulate mask. Whenever possible, I always remained indoors, needing to keep my lungs as healthy as possible. Only the healthy would be considered for the mission. Not that I doubted the particulate mask worked, but it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. I dreamed of starting over with a clean slate in a place where I could live without the use of a mask. A planet with clean air, trees, lakes, and maybe a sandy beach. That would be heaven.
The day before the mission, I took time out of my busy schedule to visit my parents. Even though it was only a thirty-minute drive, it was time I didn’t have, but I took it anyway.
“Ryan, I don’t like it,” Evan, my superior, said with censure in his voice. An older man with a balding head, a few wrinkles lined his eyes and lips as his blue eyes pierced me with a steady stare. Yes, he was technically my boss, but not even Evan could stop me from visiting my parents. I had free time, I just never took it.
“Noted. I won’t be gone long.” He didn’t seem amused with my condescending grin. As evident by his tightly clenched jaw, he probably wanted to object but knew he couldn’t. It was my right. Besides, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to tell their parents goodbye? Forget that, there are probably a lot of them. “I’ll be back soon.” I clutched the mask tighter in my hand. Evan didn’t say anything, so I took a deep breath and headed for the door. Lara was gracious enough to lend me her car.
Pulling into the driveway of the brick ranch, I let out a sad breath while I stared at my childhood home. It had seen better days. The shingled roof was weathered, the bricks dirty. I didn’t blame my dad; I wouldn’t be outside any longer than necessary, either. It’s not as though many people saw the outside. Everyone who visited would rush indoors as soon as possible.
Clicking the release button for my seat belt, I stared at the house one last time. I would miss this place.
Walking as quickly as possible up the concrete sidewalk, I glanced at the dead foliage that lined the path and wondered what it would look like in a healthy environment. Finding a new planet where flowers bloomed with vibrant colors and birds filled the sky the way they did in myths—that was my dream.
As soon as I made it to the front door, it swung open. Mom quickly shut the door behind me. I ripped off the particulate mask and smiled. “Hi, Mom.”
My mom, Jill, grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for a big hug. “I can’t believe you came.” Happy tears ran down her porcelain face. She looked great for her age. Never getting any sun kept her skin young. A few gray streaks shone through her auburn hair even though she was only forty-eight.
Tears threatened to escape, but I held them at bay, at least until my eyes found my emotional father, Mack, and then I let them run freely down my face. Dad waited for his turn and then engulfed me in his strong, comforting arms.
When I stepped back, I swiped the tears from my face and smiled. “You know I wouldn’t leave without seeing you guys.”
“I hoped you would come, but I would’ve understood why you didn’t. You have to stay healthy.” Mom took my hand and led me to the worn, flowered couch. Mom sat on my right while Dad sat on my left, each holding one of my hands.
“Some things are worth the risk.”
“Oh, sweetheart. We love you, too.”
“I know, Mom.” A long breath escaped. This was harder than I’d thought it would be. Just knowing that I might never see them again broke my heart, but the thought of one day giving them a better life… Th
at meant everything. I had to try.
“So, tomorrow’s the big day?” Dad’s husky voice snagged my attention.
“Tomorrow’s the day,” I confirmed.
“Are you nervous?” my mom asked.
“Nervous. Excited. I want to find out what’s out there. Maybe find a new planet for all of us.” I softened my eyes and finished, “I will miss you both like mad.”
Mom pulled me close and cried. “We’ll miss you, too, honey, but this is your dream. You have to follow your dreams. Who knows what’s waiting for you out there?” All the air rushed from my lungs as relief filled my body. A huge weight lifted from my shoulders with my mom’s words. I knew I needed to follow my dreams, but them showing support and confirming what I already knew meant the world to me.
“I know. But hearing you say it means everything.”
“We know you’ll do great. We are both so proud of you, Cami.”
“Thanks, Mom.” They were the main reason I’d done so well. They always pushed me, convinced me I could do anything, be anything. Not only did I want to explore, I wanted to make them proud.
We spent the rest of the visit talking about family and the mission. I stayed only about an hour before I had to leave. With a hugs and kisses, I left my family home and my parents with a heavy heart.
On the day of the mission, I looked in the mirror and adjusted my flight suit. This was it. With my helmet under my arm, I proudly walked to the ship that would be my home for an indeterminate amount of time. Everything I’d worked for all led to this moment. The other six fell in line behind me as we took the steps one by one. Crowds cheered and clapped as I held my head high. The weight of the moment, the hope that rested on our shoulders… These people depended on us.
Once on board, I accessed my ocular implant, an AI that allowed me to gather and access information at will and with only a thought. One thing about Earth—it had advanced technology. The AI could adapt and then connect with any and all other AIs and would continue to learn and evolve. It provided everything I needed to know about the ship. An internal manual book.
Aydan (The Azziarin Series Book 6) Page 14
