“Do your people have rules with regards to humans?”
Arax squirmed. “If I take a mate from one of my kind, Neola will always be an outcast. A child born to me will displace her. The second I held her in my arms she became mine, my child, my first born. Tradition dictates she be taken care of, but our society will frown on her mating one of our kind. Unless…”
“Unless?” Meadow narrowed her gaze.
“Unless I take a human as a mate. I had no intention of doing so until I returned from the council. It would appear my indiscretion hasn’t gone unnoticed. There is unease among my citizens.” Arax got up to pace. “We war with shark people, but it goes beyond that. I am leader, but my actions have caused some to question my leadership.”
“Actions?”
“I’m a self-centered, condescending bastard by anyone’s standards. An accident involving the Zargonnii and a human female was almost disastrous. I thought we, I, handled the situation, but that’s all I did. Then I retrieve a human female and leave some of the enemy in a portal. I just had a meeting with the council, and they are furious. Word has gotten out Neola is here and not yours by birth, you have been leaked as well. I guess the females I asked to aid Neola weren’t as closed-mouthed as I’d hoped.”
“What is it you want?” Something told her she wouldn’t like his answer.
“You. I need you to mate with me. A mate will ground me, keep me centered.”
“No thanks.” Meadow waved a hand. Instantly, Neola grabbed it and began playing with Meadow’s fingers.
Arax stopped pacing, startled. “I saved you.”
“Yes, and I’m hurt and starving. I’ve been here a day at least and you haven’t told me I could leave this room to tend to my own needs if necessary. I don’t know this place, and I didn’t want to wander alone. Aside from the fact we don’t love, know, or care about each other, you simply brought me here without seeing to my needs. I can’t go anywhere. You claimed I was a secret, so I stayed put. You can’t just dump someone somewhere and leave them alone with nothing. Even the pirates let me wander. Don’t you have any responsibility? Or are you as spoiled and pampered as you seem? Oh, I pissed off the council, so I’ll mate and shut them up.” She’d switched to a mocking voice, tiring of him strutting about telling her what would now happen with her life. The mighty water warrior leader. “Hey, I want a babysitter for my baby, so I’ll open a portal and not think of the consequences. Why not lock up a few shark people? That’s what I’m guessing you did by the smug look on your face. I saw you say something to that shark behind the ice wall, and I could see he was furious. Of course someone will bring food and water to a secret I’m keeping in my room.”
Neola nodded off in her arms, and she placed the baby on the bed beside her. Meadow was miserable. Her tummy rumbled, her side ached, and she reeked of brackish saltwater.
“I’m not mating with a male who only saved me to keep as a babysitter and hasn’t bothered to care if I starve and stink.”
Arax opened and closed his mouth like a…fish. Meadow sat staring at him. Arax strode to another room and returned with a small pile of clothes. He pointed at a door. Meadow stood and gazed down at the baby. Arax scooped her up. He then opened the door to a bathing area.
“No one will enter while you wash. I can’t believe I haven’t fed you. I can’t believe no one bothered…” He looked sheepish and, mumbling, he left.
* * * *
Arax stormed from the room. Again he felt like an idiot. Earlier the council had been so condescending when they’d gathered. Arax was law, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t governed to a small degree. The council was normally quiet about his indiscretions. Now they were having a field day. As though he had behaved like a spoiled brat when all he did was save two human females. He bristled. He had saved Neola and found another to watch her. With his chest puffed out, he’d been full of himself when he’d entered the council chamber. The smile had fallen from his lips when every member met him with a glare.
It wasn’t Arax’s fault everything was a mess. The council had found out about both humans, they knew the baby was once a grown woman and possibly mated to a Zargonnii. He was a little embarrassed about his lie, but he had twisted the truth before. So what?
Now it was a huge issue. Arax knew the healer was annoyed with humans, but he never thought he’d risk Arax’s wrath by telling on him. It must have been a female. But only the healer knew the baby might once have been mate to Titus, the leader of the Southern Zargonnii. Arax’s last encounter with the massive aliens was less than stellar, he had almost killed a human female. There was nothing so loathed as a male who killed a female.
So what was he to do? Return both the child and human to Earth? No. Earth was dead.
The council stood firm and had demanded Arax accept responsibility. They suggested a mating, and Arax had almost hit the floor. Mate a human? Granted, she was stunning to look at but sassy as heck. The council didn’t care what he wanted. They were tired of him playing with their planet’s females. He’d found the humans and he was going to keep them. But he had just met the adult female and he’d forgotten to feed her. Arax groaned. He was an idiot. No wonder she was annoyed with him.
Too many things were happening too fast. New aliens, Earth dying, humans, sharks, babies. The last made him smile. His chest tightened as he gazed into his baby’s face. Whoever Neola was before, she was his now. His baby. He would mate with the cute and sassy female and keep the baby. That should appease the council.
A female waited to do his bidding when he left his room. He motioned her over and placed Neola into her arms. Arax traced Neola’s forehead with a finger.
“Give my daughter back to her mother after she has washed.”
The female gaped, then recovered and nodded stiffly. Her entire demeanor changed. Neola was cuddled close. It would take a megalodon army to get his baby from her arms. As it should be, he thought with a toss of his head, he’d just informed her that she held his heir.
Grabbing a tray from the eating hall while others watched made him self-conscious. Soon he blocked everyone else out and seriously wondered what he should feed the human. Breads, shellfish, and other delicacies the ocean had to offer—he would start there. He tipped his head toward a few silently gazing at the food he’d gathered. They knew it was for the human. Arax was brought food, he didn’t take food to others. Those he passed seemed surprised. Good. Let them see me taking responsibility.
When he entered his room a short time later both Meadow and Neola were sleeping. The female he had given Neola to had taken her to her mother as requested. Meadow had washed and changed. Now clean, she was beautiful, not that she was ugly when dirty. She was thin but her beautiful curves made his loins stir. That surprised Arax. Many females were attractive but they all wanted something from him. Meadow needed him. Her vulnerability was appealing. The stay on the Earth vessel must have been hard, but her spirit and her innocence remained intact. Arax had no clue if she had been with another male, but her being shone with humanity.
Meadow’s arms cuddled Neola close to keep her safe. This was what Arax wanted, a female who put others before herself. A leader’s queen should be selfless, as he should be toward her. That was Arax’s new role, father, and with hope, a mate to a gentle, kind creature.
He set the tray down and nudged her. She groaned and stretched, carefully placing the baby to her side and covering her with a warm blanket. Her gaze settled on the tray and she pounced as though she’d never eaten in her life. Everything was devoured until Arax grabbed the tray in fear, wondering if her little jaw would snap that in two as well.
“Are you still hungry?” he asked.
“Yes, but my tummy needs to accept this first. I’m not used to so much so fast. I think I only ate maybe every other day, and then maybe twice during the same day. Food, even bad food, was a luxury. I was on that ship for two years. We had little food, but a lot of pain and heartache. We lived day to day. Thank you, Arax.”
/> Her head was bowed. She appeared embarrassed. Arax shouldn’t have snatched the tray away. Her stay on the vessel was far worse than he had speculated, and his admiration for her grew. There wasn’t a day that went by that Arax didn’t have enough to eat. He went to bed healthy, not fearful. There was stress but nothing he couldn’t handle.
Arax took a good, long look at the human he’d saved. He’d saved her. Now the council demanded he mate with her if they were to accept her in their lives as well as Neola. How did he come to be directly responsible for two human lives? Yes, he watched over his people. In a half-assed fashion.
The council was forcing his hand with responsibility. He had trapped the shark people, and by doing that he’d sealed his fate. How ironic. A tiny curmudgeon gazed at him. He wondered again how horrible her existence must have been. Neola had been dealt an awful hand in her human world, but her life was now his to mold and cater to.
“Meadow, I know everything you knew is gone.”
“Thank God.”
Arax blinked. Indeed. What was he thinking? “This is the beginning of your new life. The council has demanded I either mate with you and accept Neola as my child or give you both up. I can create a portal to send you to a new world, but my options are limited. I can’t send you to the Zargonnii. Their water has a deadly type of pond scum that would kill you the second you entered the planet. The Castians have a failsafe that won’t allow their world to be entered into by water—at one time theirs had been poisoned until their females perished. The only world I know of that is remotely safe is the Dalanee warriors. The dark winged males. I highly doubt they would hand you over to either of the warriors I just mentioned. They want human females.”
“You mean the ones who keep humans as slaves?”
“They won’t be cruel, but I don’t want to hand over Neola. I can’t. I love her. I don’t know why a tiny female has my heart in her grasp. She suffered so much, and I must make certain she is never used again. Be my female. Stay with us and make a home with us. I promise I will try and be more responsible. As a father and mate I’m certain I could if given a chance. For both you and Neola I will try.”
She looked so confused. “I don’t know you.”
“What have you known?”
“Pain. Sadness. Hurt. Fear.”
“You will never feel those things here.”
“I guess I should warn you I’m compulsive.”
Arax snorted. “You’re female and human. I guessed that already.”
She appeared surprised. “And I don’t know your world.”
“You will. Starting now. I will show you only beautiful things. You’ve seen enough dank darkness to last a lifetime.”
Arax took her hand and nodded toward the door. A female came near. Arax scowled at her. “If my daughter, Neola, isn’t looked after properly there will be hell to pay. All you are allowed to do is hold her and play with her when she wakes. She may have dolphin milk but nothing else. If I catch her chewing on a starfish, so help me I’ll have you over a knee. And it won’t be an open hand if I give you to an octopus for a spanking.”
The female blanched as he knew she would. Arax had made his claim. Neola was no longer the infant, the baby, the human child—she was his child. Those words alone increased Neola’s rank to higher than anyone on the planet except his. Offspring were valued more than anything on his planet.
“I will keep the little princess, Neola, safe.” The female bowed demurely.
Arax held his hand out to Meadow. She stood, her chin up, her shoulders back. She was a proud female. He had thrust her into a strange, new life. He had been thrust into a strange, new life. The council wouldn’t care for these two humans like they would people of his planet. They were important because they were his, but they were his direct responsibility, like the mate and father of any other family.
“Come, Meadow. Let me show you your new home.”
* * * *
The massive waterfall was breathtaking. White and blue bubbling thunder teemed down from the immense elevation. Above the mountain the mist concealed the peak, giving the impression the mountain disappeared into the sky, or became one with it.
Standing next to the falls, Arax took her hand, preparing to take her under. Meadow shied back. When he’d said he wanted to show her his world she didn’t realize he meant his underwater world. Gazing at him, she felt sheepish. Of course underwater was his world. When submerged in the freezing depths of hell and surrounded by sharks, Meadow had been convinced she would die. For years she was dead on the ship. If she gave him her hand, there would be no going back. Back to what though? It was time to live.
Meadow’s feet were on solid ground and on land. The first time in a year. The last time she’d stepped foot on dry ground had been filled with heartache. Used as a pack mule for pirates, slaving to do the hard work while they reaped the rewards. She wasn’t allowed to live on the ship; she was allowed existence.
Arax’s earnest blue eyes gazed at her with what she felt was hope. If he could love Neola, he could grow to like Meadow, and she him. He’d saved her from hell, from death. He’d welcomed her. Perhaps it was only for his and Neola’s sake, but how could she not want to stay with a being who could love a human infant?
The warm, slightly heavy feeling in her belly was sustenance; food, real food, enough to take the sharp pangs away, finally. She wore very little in the way of clothes, but they were clean and the material fine and downy soft. The stench was gone. And perhaps she’d washed away doubt along with the filth when she’d realized this wasn’t as frightening as it should be.
“I don’t want to be alone here,” Meadow said. Her hellish boat life was a sad memory, but she’d made a few friends. None were too close, and at one point all were certain someone would throw them under the bus. They’d worked together from necessity. Meadow had shed tears alone under darkness until she was empty.
Arax turned her into his chest and tilted her face up. “My council has demanded I take the responsibility I was born to do. They have overlooked more infractions than any other council in the past. You were the last straw. I’m not angry with you, I brought you here. I came to the conclusion the council is right. It’s time I stepped up. Come with me and I promise you will never be alone. Let my world be yours.”
The water before her wasn’t the brackish, lifeless water she had known on Earth. There were no creaks and groans of a dying vessel to send her into nightmares every night. This pounding deluge was more a song. A strong song of never ending life. Arax wasn’t a pirate wielding life or death over her.
She nodded; she wanted to see what her new life would be like. So far she had to admit that having a beautiful baby, food, warmth, and a home was wonderful. If Arax was to be her mate, she needed to like her surroundings. His compelling blue eyes and wickedly handsome face had nothing to do with how wonderful she felt—but it helped.
If she didn’t mate with Arax, he’d made it clear there would be no hope of Neola being accepted. This was her life too. If she grew up among these aliens, they would be family and familiar. What would she do for a mate when she was grown, where would she find one or fit in? Meadow was a trailblazer in her own right, so why stop now? She got on the ship alone, she survived under dire circumstances. The odds were in her favor this time. She only had to say yes.
Arax pulled her tighter against his chest to shelter her. His grin was cheeky, and she understood he was a bad boy rogue though something had changed for her. They didn’t know one another, but he loved Neola. If he could love, he couldn’t be all bad. In fact, aside from his somewhat annoying attitude, he wasn’t bad at all. In a short time he had supplied Neola and Meadow with everything she needed and wanted. Then again, those green eyes of the cherub captivated Meadow the moment she saw Neola. But she couldn’t just mate for the child’s sake. She needed to see she could accept this life, accept Arax.
Meadow gasped as they stepped into the water. It took a moment before she realized the crushing
capacity of the deluge barely drizzled over her flesh. Arax shielded her as he turned her within his embrace, sheltering but not confining her. She gazed up at him and he motioned with a nod to take in her fill of the sight. To see what she never before had witnessed. All around were smooth walls of the mountain and beauty. She’d never been inside a waterfall before. The bubbles Arax created haloed her face, allowing her to breathe while she gazed in avid wonder. He was larger in this form. She knew his ability to morph was what saved her life.
They strolled at their leisure, her bare feet caressing the slick stone beneath her. When her hand lifted so, too, did Arax’s. Placed above hers for protection from the pounding water, she touched the walls then cupped handfuls of water. When Arax smiled she tasted the cool sweetness of the liquid. No wonder his planet was considered a world within a world, a water world that could only connect to other places through water. There were too many marvels to be contained and explored when Earth was alive, the planet needed the expansion of different worlds within. Who knew water was a portal for different dimensions? For the rest of her life anything to do with water would be at Meadow’s fingertips.
When they stepped through to the other side she gazed at a beautiful beach. Endless white sand stretched for miles. Warmed by the sun, tiny grains tickled her bare feet and slipped between her toes. She was shoeless. It had made no sense to demand footwear that would only get wet. Everyone on his planet went barefoot from what Arax said.
Arax turned her in his arms and cupped her chin. “My world is land and water. I can protect you on both. Your world is land. I know when we met you were freezing, but not yet drowning. Don’t fear water. Elements create temperature. Water is harmless until manipulated to do elements’ bidding. I don’t allow an element to rule me.”
In His Alien Hands Page 5
