As she worked she tried to come up with a plan. She knew that she had become overtired, but surely all the survivors of the Xenorrii attack felt exhausted, at the very least. She’d survived the first horrific shock of seeing her school friends slaughtered, the fear of being alone and hunted, on what was now an alien world, then the months of living on very little food while evading those horrific beings every day. The traumas she had witnessed working alongside the doctors and nurses had affected her badly, but she had pushed them away into the back of her brain, not to be looked at.
Then the Sceriae came and there was hope that Earth might be saved. They had frightened her in their horrific armour, but she had bravely accepted them, and then she had met Allorus. So large, so handsome, with the body of a Greek god, and he had wanted her enough to give up the throne of Scerior, and even marry her in the human way. No other Sceriae had gone through a marriage ceremony with their mate. She was now first lady of Earth, loved by the Absolute master of Earth and respected and loved by most of the citizens of Earth. Deep in thought she smiled at the memories of Allorus worshipping her body while driving her to orgasm after orgasm and he sex clenched at the thought.
Finally admitting that she was touchy when it came to discussing the Sceriae plan to save their race, she pondered deeply on what he had said about humans being humans, descended from the very first man, no matter their colour race or creed, while Sceriae and humans were different species altogether. It was inevitable that some Sceriae, like Allorus, wouldn’t adhere to the plan, especially here on Earth. Indeed many of the Sceriae soldiers, doctors etc. had human mates, and their offspring here on Earth would be the beginning of new species. Some of their descendants would be more Sceriae and some would be more human than others. Here on Earth it didn’t matter, but she was beginning to understand that in Scerior’s galaxy it probably did. She had read the reports on Kalen the Sceriatti ambassador, so now there was another species, compatible maybe with both Sceriae and humans. The future would be very interesting!
Accepting all that did not, however, excuse Allorus’ high handed way of treating her. As well as his love she expected his full respect, SO how could she get that across to him without losing her temper?
Having reached the end of her mail she sent a message of apology to the council of the South American township she had been going to visit that day, asking to rearrange it in a couple of weeks, then she closed the laptop and picking up a book lay down on the sofa to read, To her surprise her eyes became heavier and heavier and she fell asleep, the book falling from her fingers onto her chest.
Allorus found her there when he returned. He smiled, pleased that she had obeyed him and went into the bathroom to take off his uniform.
When he returned to the bedroom he bent over her and kissed her forehead, she woke with a start for she had been dreaming about the Xenorrii attack on her school.
“Oh, it’s you” she muttered.
Allorus frowned “Not a very exciting welcome”.
Rebecca sat up “Why would I be excited to welcome you?”
“Pardon! What is that supposed to mean?” he growled.
Standing up to face him she tried to suppress her anger “Where do you get off keeping me a prisoner on your starship? I’m your wife not your slave”.
“Yes you are my wife and I gave orders that you should rest. You have overtired yourself, running here there and everywhere. It was obvious from the way you behaved last night”.
To his surprise she threw her book at him, and it hit him on his brow, the sharp corner cutting his eyebrow. “What the hell are you doing?” he roared.
“You make me so angry, I don’t know what I am doing,” she shouted back. Then seeing the tiny cut on his brow she said “I didn’t mean to hurt you but you drove me to it”.
“This little nick hasn’t hurt me but you’ve made me very angry with you, I only thought of your health and you abuse me. If I were my father I’d have you across my knee and your bottom bare to my hand,” he growled moving towards her.
She desperately wanted to run away but forced herself to stand her ground “And I would never forgive you. I am not Jo, I will not be treated like that. If you truly care only for my wellbeing you will sit down and we will sort it out”.
Allorus sighed, running his hands through his hair he took a deep breath. “And I am not my father. You are right my love, come let’s sort this out. Holding out his hand he smiled tentatively at her. Looking into his eyes she took his hand and allowed him to sit her on the sofa.
“Speak to me Rebecca”.
Leaving her hand in his she sat quietly collecting her thoughts. “I’m angry with you Allorus because I had agreed that I was overtired and have the sense to realise that I should allow myself to recover from the last few years”.
He went to speak but she shook her head and continued “Let me speak. Because I love you and was innocent of sex, I followed your lead in our love life, but I have realised today that I allowed you to lead me in other things too. I think you started to love me because I wasn’t afraid of you and have a mind of my own. Unfortunately today you forgot that and gave orders as if I belonged to you. While my heart belongs to you the rest of me only belongs to me. If you can’t accept that then we have no future!”
He could see that she was deadly serious so controlled his natural reaction to grab her and tell her that she belonged to him body and mind. “You should know that I respect you as well as love you. Whatever I said last night was not meant to upset you, I think highly of humans and was only trying to explain the difference...”
Rebecca had put her hand over his mouth “My anger with you today is not about that, it is about you keeping me a prisoner on the starship. I’ve thought about what you said and can understand it now and I know that you don’t think we are less than you just different, but I am first lady of Earth, have important duties and you just cancelled one without asking me. Don’t you realise that those people in South America have been preparing for my visit for weeks, and because of you I let them down”.
Allorus thought about what she had said and finally understood her anger. The Sceriae were all about duty coming first. He felt ashamed that he hadn’t trusted her to look after herself.
To Rebecca’s surprise he slid off the sofa onto his knees and taking both her hands in his kissed them “I’m so sorry my love, I didn’t think of your duty, only my desire to have you safe and well. I will apologise to the South American council and explain that it was my fault you didn’t go today. Please forgive me, I’ll never treat you like that again”.
“I’ve already mailed them and apologised. We’ll arrange a visit in a couple of weeks, as I do intend to cut down on my work. Having time to think today I’ve realised that my mind and body are exhausted from what I have gone through since the Xenorrii attack. So I am going to have a break and just be a wife for a while. I know it is important for me to be healthy if we are going to have a baby!”
Allorus hadn’t quite kept up and was processing what she had said when he suddenly heard the `if we are going to have a baby` bit. His mouth fell open and then he grinned “Have a baby?”
Rebecca blushed “What do you think? Mind, I’m warning you I won’t give up my work completely so don’t think I will”.
Pulling her into his arms Allorus kissed her deeply “I think it’s a wonderful idea. I have been longing to have you properly, in the Sceriae way. But you do know that having a Sceriae child is very tiring, you will have to look after your health”.
“I know, Jo warned me before we got married, but it would be nice to be a mother”.
“We will have a break together, you will rest and then we will think about you coming off the birth control. Is that alright with you, my lady?”
“It sounds good, but I don’t know whether we’ll get a break, there is so much for us to do here”. R
ebecca said wistfully.
“We will find somewhere to hide away, don’t worry, leave it all to me”. Allorus told her.
“Don’t start trying to run my life again” she warned him.
“No, don’t worry, I’ll involve you in any decisions about what we are going to do. I’ve learned my lesson”.
He was about to kiss her again but his stomach rumbled and Rebecca laughed “Haven’t you eaten?”
“No, I didn’t have time for breakfast, I suppose I’d better order lunch” he said getting up and going to the door.
“And you were angry that I wasn’t looking after myself properly!”
“You’re right, you’re right, I agree. We must both take better care of ourselves”.
“The trouble is, that with all the problems on Earth we haven’t had time for ourselves”.
Allorus grinned “Except in bed”.
“Yes and then sometimes we haven’t had enough sleep!”
“Are you complaining” he growled “I thought that you had enjoyed it too”.
“I did, but we must be adults about it. We have many huge responsibilities so we must get a sensible balance”.
“Then you must say no, I have no willpower where loving you is concerned”. Allorus laughed.
“Hah, that’s another thing Jo told me. You Sceriae are insatiable”.
“Only with our mates” he protested.
“MMm,” Rebecca said non-committedly.
Luckily at that moment there was a knock on the door and when Allorus said “come in”, the Escorii entered with their lunch. The guards peered over their shoulders relieved to see that the room was in one piece, but on noticing Allorus’ eyebrow they looked at each other and nodded. Another crazy female like Lady Joanna. As they closed the door the younger one said to his elder “These human females must have something special for officers like Lords Acorus and Allorus to put up with their bad temper!”
“Mating with them is a great pleasure. I enjoyed the prostitutes on Scerior after my mate died, and have put my name down to be considered as a mate for one of the half breeds”.
“I too look forward to finding a mate but would like to try a full human first,” the younger one said.
“There aren’t many human females on Earth who do not have a human or Sceriae mate already”.
“Then I’ll return to Scerior when my tour of duty here is finished”.
They became quiet as the door opened and the Escorii came out. Escorii could read their mind so they made them blank or thought of battle.
Allorus and Rebecca sat at the table and helped themselves to the food and as they ate they continued their discussion about how to find more time for themselves.
“You know, if we had a villa instead of living on the starship we would have more alone time there”. Rebecca said thoughtfully.
“I hadn’t thought about a villa for us but I suppose now that Earth is free of the Xenorrii I don’t need to be ready to fight instantaneously”.
“No you would not need to be on duty as commander of the army at all times. Maybe it is time to promote one of your best officers to be head of the army and concentrate on being Master of Earth”.
“My father is commander of the Scerior army and King of the Sceriae, could I be less than him?” Allorus pondered.
“You don’t know whether he is going to stay in the two roles. Perhaps he is thinking the same as me. I tell you what, why don’t you ask his advice on this? Send a message on the next ship returning to Scerior”.
“I wouldn’t like him to think me weak!”
Rebecca sighed “Oh, your pride. I don’t think he’ll think you weak, just sensible. To be Master of Earth is the most important job surely? If you could concentrate solely on that you could do it even better. The everyday running of our soldiers is not something you should be bothered about. Whoever you promote could report to you, on the important matters weekly, then you’d know what was going on in our army”.
“You really want this, don’t you?”
“I would love a home of my own, with sitting rooms etc. not just a bedroom and bathroom. If I am going to have a baby we’ll need more room anyway. I haven’t had a home since Mom and Dad were killed and I’d like to have things I had chosen around me. The starship is a weapon not a home”.
Allorus then realised how selfish he had been. Females needed a nest of their own. Even the Sceriae females had wanted a villa to call home and fill with the things they liked. Although his mother had been a busy doctor and member of the council she had still made her home over into how she liked it.
“If that is what you would like we will have a villa built, but where?”
“Well I’m American and it is one of our largest army bases, so why not here?”
“We could choose a place and make it the capital of America with buildings for the bureaucrats needed to run Earth,” he said becoming excited at the thought.
“We must be careful that our villa is the same size decided on at your world council meeting, or we’ll upset the world’s premiers,” she warned.
“Yes you’re right but the size they decided on is ample for any size of family. Indeed it is bigger than the royal palace on Scerior, and I will consult with the Americans about where they would like their capital to be. And you are right I will ask my father’s advice about the other matter, a starship returns to Scerior the day after tomorrow so I’ll send a message with that”.
“Oh Allorus a home of my own would be wonderful, thank you for agreeing to it”.
He got up from the table and swept her up into his arms and as he carried her to the bed he said “No, thank you my beautiful clever wife. I love you to distraction and would like to make love to you but if you are too tired just tell me and I’ll contain myself”.
Rebecca stroked his cheek and nestled into him “I’m never too tired to be made love to”.
As he lay her on the bed his mouth found hers and his clever hands slid under her tunic to stroke her breasts.
“Soon you will be completely mine, joined as one, when we make our first child together. However I need plenty of practice before that final delight is mine,” he said as he heard her moan and her body arched up to his caressing hands.
Chapter 28
Acorus and Jo were sitting in the breakfast room in the palace, alone for once.
“I received a letter yesterday from Allorus” he told her.
“How are things on Earth? Are Rebecca and him well?”
“Yes they are well, but have hit the first rock on their road together!”
Jo looked concerned “They haven’t fallen out have they?”
“Evidently they nearly did, but they sat down and discussed the problem together”.
“My goodness,” Jo grinned “are you sure that he’s your son?”
Acorus scowled at her “What are you implying?”
“Just that your son seems to be of a more placid nature than you”.
“And Rebecca less bad tempered than you” he growled.
Then they laughed together as they remembered their many fights. “But I did have fun when I had to punish you!” Acorus murmured.
Jo grinned at him “Mmm, maybe I should find some reason to fall out with you!”
“No, that will come without you having to try”.
“Oh you” Jo flapped her hand at him “I can’t be bothered with arguing with you anymore”.
“I’ll have to try harder to annoy you”.
“Anyhow, what was the problem between Allorus and Rebecca?”
Acorus explained the content of Allorus’ letter, going on to tell her that he had been asked for his advice about Allorus appointing a commander of the army on Earth so that he could concentrate on being Master of Earth.
“Rebecca handles him well. I knew under that sweet exterior there was a will of iron” Jo commented.
“Yes, I think that she will be a good consort for him as she matures. She works hard, people like her and she has a clever brain. However, what do you think about his asking for my advice?”
“It proves that he is sensible, not too proud to ask a more experienced officer for advice. What will you advise him to do?”
“It is strange, I have been reflecting on my two roles and how difficult it is. Both roles are full time jobs and I have a much easier people to rule. We do not have as much time together as we used to, and for a newly mated couple it must be very difficult. I think it was not only Rebecca who was working too hard but Allorus too”.
Jo gazed at him with a slight smile on her face “I have been praying that you would realise that with two such important roles, you could not do full justice to either. Tell me was it Rebecca who suggested that Allorus ask your advice on this matter?”
“No he didn’t say, but you suspect that it was her do you?”
“Well if she has been watching him trying to juggle both jobs, as I have you, I wouldn’t be surprised”.
“Why haven’t you said anything to me?” he frowned.
“Because I know you well enough to leave you to work it out for yourself”.
“Mmm, but what shall I advise Allorus?”
“I think you should tell him that you have come to the conclusion that you too should hand over the army to another. Congratulate him on his being secure and intelligent enough to come to that conclusion too. Ask him who he is considering as head of the army on Earth and I think you’ll find that he’ll ask for your opinion on that too”.
Scerior Part II Page 23
