“Shush, mi t’belle,” he murmured softly as he brushed the tears she wasn’t even aware of spilling from her face. “I will never let you go. You are the light in my darkness, Jo. I cannot go back to the emptiness again. You fill me, my heart.”
Jo looked up into the dark eyes. The flaming silver in the centers burning bright, welcoming in their intensity. She reached up and buried her face in his shoulder.
“Never let me go,” she begged. “Please, don’t let me fall.”
“Never, mi t’belle, never,” he swore as he began to slowly rock his hips. “I need you again. I need you like a flower needs the sun. You, mi t’belle, you are my sun.”
Jo pulled back and smiled tenderly up at him. “I will never let you go back to the darkness,” she promised.
Chapter 5
Jo walked along the path leading through the gardens. She had woken alone, well, sort of. She looked at the beautiful flower she held gently in between her fingers. Manota hadn’t been there physically but his love had been. She had awoken to a bed littered with the petals of flowers of every color imaginable. On the pillow next to her was a brilliant white flower with gold tips. It looked like a cross between a rose and a carnation.
“It is good to see a smile on your face,” Ajaska said, startling Jo out of her reverie.
“Hi Ajaska, how are you this morning?” Jo asked politely.
She really liked Manota’s father. The first time she met him, she had been sending spit-wads down at him. River had gotten upset with Torak and ended up on one of the high wires connected to the pillars in an effort to get away from the guards following her. Star had ended up next to her before Jo had finally climbed the pillar and joined them to see what had upset her friend so much. The men had been beside themselves as they tried to figure out how to get them down while they were perfectly happy sitting like birds on a wire above the whole lot. A short time later, Ajaska Ja Kel Coradon had shown up demanding to know what was going on. When he had ordered that they get down immediately, Jo decided it was time to show the big guy that they could ‘spit like a man’ if he wanted to start barking orders and expecting them to obey. After several near hits, Ajaska had given in with grace and asked them politely to join him. His quiet manner and ease had soothed Jo’s battered emotions.
“I am doing well,” Ajaska asked with a searching gaze. He must have liked what he saw for a small smile curled his lips. “I have been to see your sister. She is very upset with Jazin at the moment.”
Jo’s eyebrow rose and her lips tightened. “What has he done now?”
Ajaska laughed at the obvious look of displeasure on Jo’s face. “He caught her when she was half way through the window – leading into River and Torak’s house.”
Jo’s lips twitched. “You do know she is just having fun trying to see how far she can get before he catches her, don’t you? I saw her yesterday and she had made it almost to my place before he realized she was gone. You could hear him yelling all the way across the garden. He never would have caught her if she had stayed to the wires,” Jo laughed with a nod toward the elaborate cabling system holding the decorative pillars in place.
“Yes, I heard about it extensively when Jazin demanded that all the pillars and the cables be removed immediately. He was very upset when I told him absolutely not!” Ajaska grinned.
Jo looked at the huge older warrior in surprise. “Why did you say no? I thought Torak and Manota would have voted to have it done as well, especially after….” Jo’s voice faded as she thought about yesterday morning.
“After Manota almost killed you yesterday?” Ajaska asked as he took Jo’s arm gently in his huge hand and guided her over to the seat near the center fountain.
“Yes,” Jo said softly looking back toward the roof of the East House. “I should have told him who I was as soon as I recognized him.”
“Why didn’t you?” Ajaska asked curiously.
Jo’s lips curved and she ducked her head to hide her face behind a curtain of blonde hair. “Once I realized who it was, I couldn’t resist. He just looked so… big and bad and huffy. I wanted to pick a fight,” she admitted.
Ajaska leaned forward, cupping Jo’s chin gently in his hand. “Something troubles you,” he murmured softly looking deeply into her light blue eyes. “What is it?”
Jo’s eyes shimmered with tears. “I can’t stay here,” she answered in a trembling voice.
“Why? You love my son and he loves you. He has claimed you as I am sure you have claimed him. Why can you not stay?” Ajaska probed.
Jo released her breath, pulling her chin out of his hand and away from his searching eyes. She looked up at the sky as she thought of how she could explain the constant ache deep inside her. She knew if anyone could get her home, it was Ajaska. She thought she could ignore the pain of leaving her parents unaware but she couldn’t, she just couldn’t.
“There are several reasons,” she began, not looking at Ajaska but up at the clouds as they drifted by. “I don’t know if I can explain this so you can understand…”
“Just say what is in your heart, proud warrior,” Ajaska encouraged with a squeeze to her slender hand.
“Twice now I’ve almost lost the only family I have here. If…” Her throat closed as the emotion of almost losing River and her sister swept through her again. “If the assassin and Tai Tek had been successful, I would have been alone here. Alone on an alien world.”
“You fear being alone on our world?” Ajaska asked.
Jo nodded her head before she shook it in frustration. Standing up, she threw her arms out in aggravation. How could she explain everything when she didn’t understand it all herself.
“Yes, no, I don’t know,” she cried out confusion.
“You mentioned your parents,” another voice said quietly. “You miss them. You are worried about them. That is why you wish to leave, isn’t it?”
Jo turned to look at Manota as he stepped onto the path. She bit her lip and slowly nodded. She took a tentative step toward him.
“It isn’t you,” she said softly. “Think of how your father and brothers would feel if they lost you. Then, think of how your father would feel if he lost all of you… Torak, Jazin, and you. If he had no idea if you were alive or dead. If he searched and searched but he was searching in the wrong place and never knew it. How would you feel if you were on a strange world and suddenly found yourself all alone? How would you feel if there was no way to let him know that you are all right?” She asked, begging him silently to hear what she couldn’t explain.
“I do not want to imagine it,” Manota admitted quietly. “For the pain of losing everything would be a heavy burden to carry.”
Jo bit her bottom lip again and nodded. “It is,” she replied. “It is my fault we were in the mountains. Star wanted to go to the Bahamas but I didn’t want to be around a bunch of tourists. If we had gone…”
Manota gently laid his fingers over her lips to silence her. “Then I would have never found you and the ache inside me would have grown because you are the only one who can fill the emptiness inside me.”
“Well, there is only one solution then,” Ajaska said as he stood up.
Jo and Manota turned to look at him. She flushed as she realized she had forgotten he was there the moment Manota spoke. She stiffened at first when Manota wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her closer before relaxing.
“I will not allow you to send her back,” Manota growled out in a deep voice that rumbled with menace. “I have claimed her as my mate, she stays with me.”
Ajaska threw his head back and laughed. “No, I will not send her back. I am sending you both back – for her parents,” Ajaska said with a mischievous look in his eye.
“What?” Manota and Jo both said together, startled.
“I am ordering you to return to her world to retrieve her parents. It is important that my daughters are happy,” Ajaska said turning to head toward the South House. “And bring me back a mate as well wh
ile you are there! I could use someone for myself!” He called out never turning around.
Jo looked up at Manota with hope and excitement. Manota was still staring after his father with his mouth opened. She didn’t know if he was shocked at the order to go get her parents or the last comment about bringing him back a mate. Either way, she couldn’t squelch the excitement building inside her.
“Manota?” She asked breathlessly.
Manota slowly turned his gaze down to his mate. The hope and excitement in her eyes melted his resistance at the thought of returning to her world. He never wanted to take the light out of her eyes.
“I guess we are going to your world,” he said with a stunned smile.
“YES!” Jo squealed with delight, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing small kisses all over his face before sealing her lips to his.
Manota groaned and decided he was going to find more things to make her excited if she acted like this.
Chapter 6
“Prepare the air bike for departure,” Manota ordered one of the warriors as he looked over the reports his second in command had given him. “Kev, have you made sure this area will be isolated enough that we should remain unseen?”
Kev Mul Kar looked up from the scanner he was monitoring. He had joined the crew as Chief Security Officer after returning from a mission on Trolis’ warship. He had returned from the Tearnat warship with star charts and the location of Earth. He was overseeing their trip down to the planet and had finally picked a location he felt would be isolated enough to hide them without being too far to contact Lady Jo’s parents.
“The area is primarily used for raising livestock on their world. The warship will be hidden at the bottom of the lake. All readings state it is deep enough to cover us. The submersible shell for the air bike can be hidden among the foliage near the edge of the lake. If you use the air bike at night, you should be able to move relatively unseen. I have met with Lady Jo and we have gone over the best area to set down. The cloaking device you have developed will work with helping to hide our presence until we settle underwater. K’tar is manning the communications and sensors of their world. We will appear as nothing more than space debris or a small meteorite as we enter. My biggest concern will be with whether Jo’s parents will believe her and follow her directions.”
“They will,” Jo said, biting her lip to keep the stupid grin of excitement and nervousness off her face. “Daddy and momma can be trusted.”
She was so nervous, she was practically dancing. They had been traveling for over a month and the closer they got the more excited she became. There had been a short time during that trip she had been afraid that Manota had changed his mind. Something had happened and he had become very quiet and withdrawn for several weeks. He had told her it was nothing, just a few issues back home. Since his schedule was very erratic and it was hard to know when he would come to rest, she never had a chance to press him about what had happened.
Jo had taken to going to the training room and doing her routines as a way to deal with the restless energy she was feeling. She always felt better when she was soaring through the air or up on one of the high beams. She loved the sense of being free. Several of the younger warriors had gotten up the courage to finally ask her how she did half the moves that she did. She began a class to show them how to climb the ropes, move from one to another and how to improve their balance on the narrow beams.
During the weeks that passed, she had grown to appreciate the responsibilities that Manota had as she listened to the young warriors talk about his skills in battle. She could hear the respect and awe in their voices as they shared stories they had heard or feats they had seen him do themselves. Jo caught glimpses of his leadership skill throughout the trip as he worked closely with the others on board the Seeker, a sleek smaller warship that Manota had redesigned. It carried a crew of fifty, was a third of the size of the larger warships, and could move faster through space. Manota said the warship was used primarily for shipping military equipment and troop deployment when it was needed quickly.
“Jo?” Manota asked pulling her out of her reverie. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she responded breathlessly.
“Remember, do not tell them anything about where you have been or about us,” Manota reminded her.
Jo rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t worry. If I told them I had been kidnapped by aliens and was taking them back to another planet they would probably arrive with the army and a padded wagon. I’ll keep it simple. I’ll ask them to meet us at the condo.”
Manota nodded and turned to K’tar. “Open the line and patch into their communications system. Contact the number Lady Jo gave you,” he said in a tone devoid of his true feelings of reservation.
The sound of a ringing phone echoed loudly in the conference room off the bridge. Jo didn’t think she could handle talking to her parents in front of everyone. It was bad enough that Kev and K’tar were in the room. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she wanted Manota to be there in case she broke down like a sobbing lunatic. On the fourth ring, Jo heard her father’s deep voice.
“Hello? Hello?” Alan Strauss said again when he didn’t get a response at first. “Who is this?”
“Daddy?” Jo whispered as tears threatened to choke her. “Daddy, it’s Jo.”
“Jo?” Alan Strauss’ voice repeated in a strained voice. “Who is this?” He demanded harshly. “Where are my daughters? What have you done with them?”
Jo heard her mother’s voice in the background. She could hear her asking desperately who it was and what they wanted. The sound of Tami Strauss’ voice broke through the control Jo had fought so hard to hold onto.
“Daddy, momma, it’s me, Jo. I missed you guys so much,” Jo said in a trembling voice.
“Jo, sweetheart, where are you?” Tami Strauss asked desperately. “Where is Star, honey? Is she with you? Where have you been? Where are you now? Let us come get you.”
“I’m… I’m going to be heading to our condo. Can you… you… and daddy meet me there? You… you can’t tell anyone. I need you two to come alone. I have to tell you some… something,” Jo cried softly.
“Honey, where is Star? Is she with you?” Alan asked huskily.
“No, she didn’t come but she is okay. We both are,” Jo answered on a shaky breath. “We… I need to talk to you both. It is important that it is only you two. Promise me that you won’t tell anyone else. I… I won’t be able to come if you don’t come alone.”
Jo heard her father inhale a deep breath at her words. In the background she could hear her mother begging her dad to do as Jo asked. There was a long moment of silence before Alan spoke again.
“We’ll come alone, sweetheart. When will you be there?” Alan asked in a deceptively calm voice. “Are you in danger?” He asked quietly.
Jo smiled as she looked at Manota who was watching her intently while Kev and K’tar acted like they weren’t even there. She studied the huge warriors and knew deep down that she had never been safer. A sense of calm flowed over her as she looked into the beautiful midnight eyes of the man she loved.
“No, daddy. I’m not in danger. In fact, I’ve never been safer in my life. I have someone I want you and momma to meet. Someone very, very special,” she said with a soft smile. “I’ll be at the condo in an hour.”
“We love you, baby,” Alan said gruffly. “We’ll be there.”
“Alone,” Jo insisted. “You have to come alone. No one must know about me being back.”
“We’ll come alone,” Alan promised. “One hour, Jo.”
“I love you, daddy. Tell momma I love her too,” Jo responded before saying goodbye.
The moment the connection was terminated Manota opened his arms wide. Jo’s face crumbled as she stepped into his embrace. Her shaking sobs pulled at all three hardened warriors. Kev and K’tar quietly left them alone knowing that Jo needed time with her mate.
After several minutes, Jo pulled back and laughed self
-consciously. “Sorry about that,” she said, embarrassed. “I wasn’t expecting it to be so hard.”
Manota tilted her chin up so she was looking into his eyes. He gently wiped his thumbs across her damp cheeks. He watched as her eyes darkened at his touch.
“You are the most beautiful, bravest female I have ever met,” he said quietly. “You have no need to apologize for caring. I never really appreciated what you were saying – about what it would feel like to lose a member of your family until… until a few weeks ago. Now, I know what it feels like. You are an incredibly brave woman.”
Jo frowned as she saw the sorrow in Manota’s eyes. She had seen it numerous times over the last few weeks. Something had happened. Her mind raced through the brief conversations they’d had. She remembered him saying there had been a problem back home. Her eyes widened as she connected what he just told her with the anguish he had tried to hide from her.
“Your father?” She asked in a scared voice.
Manota shook his head. “Father is well,” he responded sadly.
“Who? Star…” Her voice shook at the thought of something happening to her little sister or River while she was gone.
“Your sister is… as well as can be expected,” he said heavily. “Jazin…” he paused as a muscle ticked in his clenched jaw. “Jazin was killed in an accident while at the Uri Spaceport several weeks ago. It is even more urgent that your parents return with us. Your sister is… she needs her family with her during this time.”
“Oh Manota,” Jo whispered in shock before burying her face in his chest, harsh sobs shaking her narrow shoulders. “I’m so sorry. Star… oh god, she must be devastated at losing Jazin.”
Chapter 7
Jo looked down at the sparkling lights of the city below. She had moved as if in a trance after Manota told her about Jazin’s death. Her heart broke for her little sister. She knew despite everything they had been through, Star was madly in love with Jazin. She had never seen her sister glow the way she did when she talked about him. Even as mad as her sister had been about Jazin sneaking off on some secret mission without telling her, Star still glowed as she described all the things she was going to do to him when he returned. Personally, Jo had thought quite a few of the ideas had some merit to them, especially the ones involving ropes.