Chapter 5

 

 

Later That Evening

 

HonORa was nervous. She had originally planned not to go to the banquet, but Lola had talked her into it. Lola had even brought over gowns for her to pick to wear to the event. She had stated that none of the priestess robes would do. Unfortunately, all of HonORa’s clothing were priestess robes. She probably should have refused the gown, but the moment she saw the pale blue dress she longed to wear it.

“How long has it been since you wore regular clothes?” Lola asked using her silent language.

“I was eighteen when I dedicated my life to becoming a priestess. I gave up all my personal things from my previous life, including clothing, leaving it all behind with my family. I haven’t been to any celebrations since then either. I preferred to remain at the temple. Maybe I shouldn’t go, but instead stay here and pray and do some contemplation.”

Lola frowned at her. “I can’t imagine the goddess would deny her own priestess a night of fun. You can serve her just as well in a gown as you can in a robe.” It was a well played argument that HonORa had no defense to.

So here she was, wearing a beautiful blue wrap gown with thin shoulder straps. The dress as cut into layers that flowed down her body and floated around her. It gave her the appearance of moving even when she was standing still. Even back on Katiera, she had never worn anything this lovely. Lola helped her style her hair in long dark curls down her back Lola left to go get herself ready.

She had only peeked at herself in the mirror. By the looks from the males when HonORa entered the banquet hall, she could tell that she looked nice. It was still awkward to not have her robes on; she realized that she used those robes as a barrier to keep others from getting too close. Standing there in the gown, she felt awkward and shy.

Lola approached her wearing an ivory gown that showed her beautiful skin tone and dark hair. Her dress fit like a glove; she definitely didn’t look like the mother of a toddler. Her friend gave her a big smile and signed, “You look lovely.”

Her hands were shaking too badly to try to sign back so she spoke facing Lola. “Thank you, and thanks again for this amazing dress.”

“It was just a dress. Now it’s a work of art because of you.”

HonORa blushed, turning to glance around at the large room filled with so many Colonists, she didn’t know all of their names. “This is a big turn out.”

“LarIS was hard pressed to turn anyone away, but his commanders advised against allowing too many to attend for safety reasons. There are extra warriors outside and at every entrance as well.”

She thought she had seen way more warriors than normal when she was walking to the banquet. It made her think about Zander’s earlier concern. “Do you expect any trouble?”

Lola shook her head no but she bit her lip, which meant she was worried. HonORa felt like she should say something to reassure her, but out of nowhere Leader LarIS arrived, taking his mate into his arms. They didn’t sign or try to speak verbally; they were communicating telepathically.

How incredible was that? He sensed his mate’s distress and came to comfort her. It was a true blessing from the goddess to be able to have that kind of a connection with another person. The few true mates she had been around amazed her, and sometimes left her a little envious. She’d never had that kind of connection with TomAZ. Maybe it would have developed between them after their mating, or maybe it wouldn’t have. Her own parents weren’t true mates. The goddess created true mates so that her people would be able to connect with their other half and feel whole. Unfortunately, over time fewer true mates were discovered. Only recently with the arrival of the Earth females did a resurgence of true mates appear.

“Good, they’re here,” LarIS said as he turned to face the main entrance to the banquet room.

HonORa turned in the same direction and felt her heart literally skip a beat or two as she gazed over at Zander. He was wearing dark blue pants and an armless dark blue vest that bared his pale blue chest and arms. His long dark black hair had been pulled back into a braid that hung down his back. She couldn’t help but admire him. Every male in the room seemed to disappear, except for him. He looked her way and their eyes locked. That electric pull she felt for him earlier came back in full force. Oh my Goddess, he’s beautiful—beautiful and blue. The question from earlier popped into her mind again. Was every part of him that pale blue color? She was desperate to find out.

LarIS cleared his throat and said in a low voice, “That’s…unexpected.”

She blushed, realizing he had been staring at her, probably reading her thoughts. Goddess, what was wrong with her? Turning away, she headed toward the refreshment table to distract herself and to put distance between them. Distance? She was about to embark to the village in the mountains with him. For days at a time, they would be in close quarters. She wouldn’t be able to ignore him forever.

As if he heard her thoughts, he was suddenly standing next to her. “Good evening, HonORa. You look beautiful.”

Turning, she gazed up at him and her body warmed at his nearness. “Thank you, you do, too.”

“I wasn’t sure whether to expose my artificial arm or whether to wear the coat that covers my arms,” he confessed. His tentativeness made her automatically feel for him.

She glanced down at the arm he was motioning toward. “I couldn’t tell at all that it wasn’t real. That’s amazing.” Without thought, she reached out and took his hand in hers so that she could hold up his arm and inspect it. “There’s not even a mark. It looks like real skin. Can you feel anything?”

Zander curved his fingers into a closed fist then opened it back up. “I can feel almost ninety percent through the artificial nerve receptors, but it’s not the same. The nanos are slowly repairing my own nerves, but it will be a long, long time before this hand will be able to reach one hundred percent sensory ability. It’s the same with my leg.”

She forgot that she had been stroking his hand and suddenly released him, feeling heat travel to her face. “Does it give you pain?”

“Every day.”

She bit her lip feeling curious. “May I ask how it happened?”

“I’ll tell you all about it, if you will dance with me.”

She bit her lip again, not sure being in his arms would be a good idea. Her body was warming at his closeness, her nipples were already tight, and she worried it would be visible through the thin material of the dress. She wasn’t sure, though, how to turn him down without hurting his feelings. “I…don’t know how to dance, but thank you anyway.”

“I guess it would be humiliating…dancing with half a man…”

By the Goddess! He was playing dirty. She narrowed her eyes at him, but she wasn’t as naive as he might think. “If you want someone else to dance with you, using a pity ploy might work on them, but it won’t on me.” She glanced at him up and down noticing his muscles and not an inch of fat was on his body. “You have not let your physical limitations hold you back from being a warrior.”

He smiled. “You’re right, that was a mean trick to use my limbless state to get you to dance with me. I want to hold you in my arms. I can’t have that so a simple dance will have to do. I promise, after the dance I will tell you anything you would like to know about my people and myself.”

Kitana! He knew she was curious about the Norads. “Fine, I agree to one dance.” She followed him out onto the dance floor and watched as he took in the other dancers. He frowned. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“I don’t know this style of dance.”

She smiled. “You should have thought about that before dragging me onto the dance floor. We’re committed to it now.”

“How do we do this?” He pointed at a couple nearby who were performing a square pattern dance as they moved over the dance floor before spinning reversing the position. That might be a little too intricate for someone who was unfamiliar with the dance…and for her, since she had been sixteen when she last danced with anyone.

“You place your hands on my hips, I’ll place my hands on your shoulders, and we just…sway.”

He followed her instructions easily. “This is similar to our dances on Norad.”

That was good. Or was it? She began to question whether she should have had him touch her at all. His hands were really warm; she could feel that heat through her dress. That was amazing that even his artificial limb generated heat. Her curiosity was getting the better of her because she had to fight to keep herself from asking him personal questions, like whether he had a mate back on Norad. She focused on following him as he led her around the dance floor. He became more comfortable and pulled her closer to him until front of their bodies were almost touching. Images of them together naked and making love popped into her head. She needed a distraction.

“Tell me what happened to your people.”

He looked down into her eyes and she could see they were haunted. “I’ll tell you after the dance. I want to find somewhere away from so many curious ears.”

Okay, she could understand that. He was a private person, and if what she’d heard about the attack was true, it would be hard to retell it in front of so many others. Respecting his wishes, she dropped the subject and allowed herself to relax and enjoy dancing. It had been maybe ten years since she had last danced. As a young girl, she loved dancing. There hadn’t been cause to dance for her—until now. She enjoyed it and especially enjoyed being in Zander’s arms. He towered over her, but instead of intimidating her, it made her feel protected and safe. The song ended and she had to admit she wished it could have gone on a little longer.

“Let’s find a private place to talk,” he said as he placed a hand at the small of her back and led her to a pair of open balcony doors.

There were a few couples strolling the long curved balcony that overlooked a pool of water. The moon was glowing down, giving natural light, and there were what appeared to be floating torch lights. “It’s so beautiful here,” she said, walking to the balcony rail and holding onto it.

“My sister tells me that you are originally from Katiera. I’ve been here and it too is beautiful. Why did you come to the Colony?”

“I wanted to help with the Morinians, and this gives me a chance to get to know the Colonists better as well.”

“That’s very generous of you,” he commented.

“Anything I can do to serve my Goddess KatieRI.”

“How did you become a priestess? Was it something you were born into?”

She turned sideways and crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him. “Hey, you’re supposed to be answering my questions.”

He chuckled as he leaned a hip against the railing and stared up into the night sky. “Right, you wanted to know what happened to my people. It’s not a pretty story.”

She remained silent, sensing his hesitation. If it was too painful, she couldn’t force him to go through with it. She would let him get out of it. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s alright. The doctors say it’s all part of the recovery process, to talk about it. Funny, it feels like years since it happened, but it’s only been months…not quite a year. How do you want me to start?”

“The beginning is always best,” she told him.

He nodded and stared up into the night sky. “I was out hunting in the forest with the rest of the males my age. Only the elderly males remained at the village with our females and children. They had been no match for the Morins, who had advanced weapons and fought with no honor.”

He breathed in deeply then released it slowly. “While hunting, we saw the ships come from the sky fast and threatening. Time seemed to slow down, impeding us from getting to our people. By the time we got to the village, everything was burning. I could hear the screams of those who had been caught up in the flames and could do nothing to get to them. The water well that was the main source of our water had been destroyed. Our weapons, blades, and spears were no match to their blasters. We were stronger fighters hand to hand; it was the best we could do, and we would have held our own but we didn’t have the numbers—they did.”

“One after another, our warriors fell. I ran for my family’s small hut near the center of the village. On the way I lost my arm first—a Morin shot me with his laser weapon and it sliced right through me. I didn’t even realize it was gone until I lifted it to hit one of the Morins and missed contact. I had to compensate with my other hand. I next lost my leg, and fell to the ground. I was in shock but had no time to dwell on what happened because I heard my sister screaming in fear and pain. Then her screaming stopped. That’s when I knew something really bad had happened. I know I had to get to her so I crawled, pulling myself forward with my one good arm and pushing with my remaining leg.”

“My heart nearly stopped at the sight. The side of the hut was on fire and I knew the roof was going to collapse. I crawled through the door and saw a Morin getting up off of my sister. His weapon lay on the ground next to him, so I used it and shot him in the head when he looked at me. The shot also hit the beam holding the roof up and it came down on us. The next thing I knew, I saw Ava and she told me I was safe, but only thirty of my people survived the attack.”

HonORa was speechless. There were no words good enough to comfort him, but she needed to do or say something. She laid her hand on his arm gently. “I’m sorry for what happened to you and your people. May the goddess give you solace.”

He snorted. “I don’t know if I believe in a god or goddess anymore.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? Where were these gods when our people cried out for help?”

Such anger inside of him, and he had a right to it. It wasn’t healthy to hold that in, though, so she stood there sending out silent prayers to the goddess.

“There is only so much any god or goddess can do when there is free will. Perhaps the goddess made sure that at least some of your people survived. Life is too short to hold on to such pain.”

Suddenly he moved to stand in front of her, closely, almost pressing his body against hers but not quite. “I agree, life is too short to not take every moment as it comes.”

She nodded, looking up into his dark eyes, mesmerized by him. “That’s true.” She shivered but it wasn’t because she was cold. His body heat reached every part of her. That electricity fired between them and shot straight to her nether region. He leaned down and softly ran his nose against the side of her neck. His voice was deep and raspy.

“I’m attracted to you and by your scent, you are attracted to me as well.”

Oh yes, she was attracted. His voice nearly made her have her first-ever release. This was dangerous because she wanted to finally experience that pleasure. This wasn’t why she came here though. “We can’t…”

“We can.” His lips just grazed her collarbone.

Goddess that felt so good! Those naughty images she of him before played back through her mind. She groaned arching back giving him more of her to explore.

The sound of a throat clearing from behind them had Zander stiffen before standing up and turning. “What?”

“Your sister is looking for you,” LarIS said.

Oh goddess! She had been caught by the leader of the Colony making out with Zander in public on the balcony. She couldn’t be more embarrassed. Zander to her consternation didn’t seem phased by what they had been doing, only frustrated that they were interrupted.

Zander looked at her regretfully. “I must go check on her.”

She nodded, “Go ahead. I will need a few minutes more before going back inside.” She would go back in but head directly to her quarters and far away from him.

He gave her devilish smile. “We will finish this another time.”

Not if she had a say in it. She watched him walk off and tried to ignore the knowing look that LarIS gave her. All LarIS did was smile and comment, “Interesting.” Then he followed Zander inside. Oxygen filled her lungs. This couldn’t happen again. She had dedicated her life to the goddess. What was she going to do with these feelings of desire? Would it fade? Maybe it would after they got to know one another. That thought made her feel suddenly depressed.